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Friday night was cold in our tent
and I was tight from trying to curl
up in the sleeping bag to keep warm,
but at least it wasn’t raining or
snowing which it has in past years.
Staging & Start
OP is
one of the largest 24 hr events in
the world and is definitely the
largest one I’ve does as a soloist.
The start is Lemans style (ie. a
run), but before that you had to
check in. I waited in the check in
line, went to the potty one more
time and headed up to the starting
line.
Dave could hand my bike off to
me so he headed to get a place to so
we could hand off. He was going to
be on my right hand side near the
end of where you can stage the
bikes. So more running which was
fine with me since I was going to be
on the bike for a very long time.
The run was probably a ¼ to a ½ mile
and was much more mild than I
thought and I kept a nice relaxed
pace. It probably helped that I’m
used to running in bike shoes due to
adventure racing. We had an amazing
handoff and I was away with no
problems. (Dave’s
Note: I saw several crashes with
people trying to get on their bikes
but our handoff really couldn’t have
gone any better,
Windy
never even broke stride to mount her
bike. Afterwards, a woman standing
next me just said “Wow! That was the
perfect.”)
First
Few Laps
The goal
of the first lap was to keep a nice
even relaxing tempo, which I felt I
accomplished. Due to the Lemans
start and the size of the crowd they
cut out the 1st
single-track which gave us more time
to spread out before we hit
single-track, which was nice. There
was still a line when we hit the
single-track, but the pace was good
and it helped to keep me under
control. The race course is smooth
and fast. As Dave put it before the
race he said he thought the course
would be more fun to race than just
ride and he was right.
(Dave’s
Note:
Windy and I went down about a
month prior to pre-ride the course
and it was just a disaster. Neither
of us felt good, the wind hammered
us the whole time and we ended up
cutting the workout short after 2
laps.) Just rolled through
that lap and was feeling great. I
stopped after the next lap to
exchange water and electrolyte
drink. I was still feeling good
although my right palm was starting
to bother me. By my fourth lap my
shorts or seat were bothering me so
I stopped to change shorts to see if
that would help and also had Dave
adjust my grip to see if that would
help with my right hand. Due to my
indecision I delayed getting a new
bike until two weeks before the race
which didn’t allow me time to fine
tune everything like the grips and
saddle.
Night
Laps
My legs
were feeling great, but my stomach
was starting to bother me. I was
still drinking, but was no longer
eating. I thought with the sun going
down and the temperatures cooling my
stomach would bounce back. However
early on during the night laps I
started to feel real nauseated and
thought I might have to throw up if
I continue to bike at the pace I was
going. Throwing up is a fear of mine
and I tell myself I need to get over
it since I do think it might limit
me, but I can’t seem to get over.
The last time I recall throwing up
was in college and there were times
that I should have thrown up because
I’m sure I would feel better. So
what I did was back off the pace and
hope it would get better. I was also
thinking I might have to drop out.
Dave
was doing a great job at trying to
make me eat something and also
kicking me out on the lap I was
feeling really bad.
(Dave’s
Note: I was getting a little worried
at this point. I knew
Windy
was mentally strong enough to keep
riding the whole time but I also
realized if she didn’t start eating,
it was going to come back to haunt
her.) He got me some Tums and
Pepsi and got me on my bike to head
out again. I started that lap with a
slower pace hoping that would help
and I think it did. I started to
feel a bit better, but anytime after
that when I would try to pick up the
pace my stomach would not feel good
and I would get nauseated so I was
stuck with going real easy.
After
Midnight
Before
the race I told
Dave
I didn’t want to know how I was
doing until after Midnight. So
sometime after midnight
Dave
told me how I was doing. He said I
was in 1st with a 55
minute lead and my lead actually
grew on the lap I started feeling
real sick. On another lap I asked
him again how I was doing and he
said that things were messed up and
they showed me with a 30 min lead,
but that they were missing one of my
laps so I had a 1 lap 30 min lead. I
learned after the race that the next
time Dave checked after he had told
me I had that 55 min lead I only had
a minute lead.
(Dave’s
Note: Actually they had her BEHIND
by 1 minute. Not good since I found
this out right after I told her she
had an hour lead and could relax a
little.) This panicked him at
first since he wasn’t sure what
happened and thought that he just
gave me some bad information. With
the help of Peggy Ellis who was
there supporting Mike Melley (he won
the single speed solo division) they
figured out that they somehow missed
one of my laps and Dave filed a
protest to have it fixed. It was
nice having Peggy their since their
exchange was down for ours and I
stopped a few times to hand her
stuff I forgot to give to Dave or in
one instance to get help with the
cord of my light.
Morning to Finish
The last
few laps were hard on my bum and
right palm. I definitely need either
a different saddle or better bike
shorts or maybe more time to break
in the saddle. I also need to dial
in my grips. Oh yeah and a new
stomach. Those are what were
bothering me the most. Anyway I
finished my 13th lap
around 11:20 and then had to decide
whether or not to go out again. OP
has a rule that you can not cross
until after Noon. If you cross the
start/finish area before that you
must complete that next lap or
you’ll be listed as DNF. So Dave and
I went down near the start/finish to
look at the results to decide if I
had to go back out. I was a bit out
of it and somehow thought the 2nd
place might catch me if I didn’t go
out, but I really had a two lap lead
so I chose to wait with the rest of
the masses until noon to go in
finishing with 13 laps.
Mentally it was a hard race
especially with my stomach issues.
My legs felt really good so that was
nice. The course was a great 24 hr
solo course. I was happy that I
accomplished my goal and was able to
keep going. Especially when I
thought I was done and would have to
quit. Thank you Dave for kicking me
out, charging my lights, and getting
me to eat a little soup. Without you
I wouldn’t have made it. |
