24 hours of moab, etc 2010

For the first time ever, we made it down to Moab for the big hoopla- yee-ha!

We got a bit of riding in before the madness began and then dug our heels in to help the boys from Mesa State and LiveTrainRace.com giterdun.

always in pursuit of rides less ridden, we made sure to do a hotlap on the beautiful "babysteps" before making our way out to the 24hour festivities.

This trail represents a new trend in Moab - bike trails designed as bike trails. The single track is super flowy, the scenery epic and the slickrock is SO MUCH fun...

...all without motos.

This is where we come to escape the noise and the dust and the chaos and still get all that Moab goodstuff. MMM! MMM! Goodstuff!

Enough with the site seeing and lollygagging...

we arrived at camp LIVETRAINRACE.COM and got down to the real business of the weekend- keeping our 3 teams on the go for 24 hours of brutacious desert riding.

Keith and Tony and Dave worked around the clock tuning and cleaning and lubing and retuning, recleaning and relubing (Repeat) the steeds of our 12 riders.

in the midst of their 24 hour mechanic marathon, Dave and Keith were unchained from the workstand and commissioned to fill in for riders unable to complete their laps. They rode like the wind and came back ready for more. Now that is full service!
You guys rocked

Just after 12 noon on Saturday Justin stepped it up for the team. After the spectacle of the Le Mann's style start he is back in the comfort of the bike and finding his groove in lap numero uno. So many miles and so many hours yet to come...the pandemonium of running 1/2 mile through desert scrub to reach the bikes and the startline will be all but forgotten before it is done.

Hours later, 3/4 of the MESA STATE boys (the other 1/4 is, of course, out there ripping through his lap) take advantage of the late afternoon light to figure out the whole helmet light operation. None of these guys had ever raced at night before this weekend. They kept the heat on for the entire 24 hours and earned 3rd place in the Men's Expert division! An amazing first ever trip to Moab!

(i am still a little annoyed they did not stay for the awards ceremony and take the podium in honor of all of those they competed against and all of those who supported their effort, but that beef is for another day gentlemen (-: we'll talk later)

And nearly 24 hours after it all began, as Dave tries to come off the rush of his hotlap (just about 1h 10m on the single speed...smokin'!), we watch the final racers make their final laps.
Within an hour or so this entire tent city will be packed up and carted off. The desert of Moab's "outbackofbeyond" will be quiet again and we will be back home in Fruita looking for a shower and a nap.

Without success, I have tried over and over to share with people the brilliant analogy Rich Geng coined after we were a good 16 hours deep in it and I will try once again:


24h mountain bike racing is like eating a donut- except the opposite. When you are eating a donut it seems like such a good idea, but afterwards, you feel so bad and you really wish you hadn't. When you are racing in a 24hour mountain bike race it feels so bad. Then when its all done, you feel so good and you are really glad you did. Exactly!

**I'm sure there is something lost here without Rich's German accent and a good dose of sleep deprivation...but it works for me. We know we will be back for more (24hours of moab that is- and maybe more donuts too)!