8hrs Solo at the 24hrs of Adrenalin

Well, all I can say is this was one of the toughest races I've done in a while. Even though I'm no newcomer to endurance races, I always seem to learn something new. Here's what I learned this time.

Pre-race Tire Issues
Since Kenda just happened to have the tire I use on my 29er, I decided to swap my rear and go tubeless. Naively, I agreed to try Jimmy's secret concoction of Slime and Stans mix. The tire beaded easily but after 3 tries airing to 40 lbs, it just wouldn't hold air for more that a few minutes. 10 min before the race I decided to swap everything back and go with a tube in the rear. Not things you should be doing before a race!

Minutes before the race, we though we heard a starting gun and I thought the race started. When I looked over, Jimmy was holding his rim in one hand and his tire in the other. His tire had essentially exploded off his rim and stans/slime were everywhere. Nice! He ran back to the pits where Rob and his dad dialed him in with a tube. Not sure what happened there, but nonetheless, he had a major tire problem too just minutes before the race.

Lesson 1: Don't touch your tire configuration the day of the race.

Lesson 2: Don't trust someone else's voodoo recommendations without testing them first!

Start
After all that, I barely arrived in time for the start and had a terrible gate pick for the run. After a 20th place start, I pushed hard on the first lap to get into 3rd overall. 3/4 of the way through I blew my rear tire - yes, the one I was messing with earlier!

Lesson 3: Lesson 1.

Tire Swap
In an avalanche of sweat and panting like a race horse, I managed to get the tube swapped and I was off again. At this point I had waisted tones of energy and lost a tone of time. Dozens of riders passed me, so I was back to square one again. Oh ya, I also used the only two CO2 canisters I had, so I had to ride the rest of the race with a big old manual pump in my pocket.

Lesson 4: Don't be a cheap ass; bring an extra Big Air!

Pacing
At this point I was riding at more of a XC pace than an endurance pace. Not good as it was blistering hot and everyone was suffering badly. Either way, by the third lap I had caught back up and was in first place again. The problem was I was pretty much spent and I had 5 more hours to go!

Lesson 5: It's an 8hr endurance race idiot. It's better to pace yourself and make up time over 8 laps instead of 3!

Nutrition
As the race went on, racers were dropping like flies due to the high temperatures and relentless climbs on the course. I started to cramp up badly behind the knees and in the inside of my hams. I managed to keep turning the pedals and spin through it, but I was in serious pain. If you've ever pedaled through a cramp, you know what I'm talking about!

At that point, I knew I was seriously dehydrated, so I totally ditched the nutrition drinks and switched to electrolytes. From lap 5-8, I basically drank nothing but electrolytes to try to replenish what I lost earlier in the day; something I've never tried before. I also grabbed a few orange slices to get some fast sugar energy. It took about an hour, but my muscles finally started to un-cramp and I was back in action. Plus, the temperature dropped 30 degrees so everyone was feeling better at this point.

Lesson 6: Nutrition drinks are essential, but without electrolytes, your body will still cramp!

Beer Lap
On my last lap, I was about 30 min ahead of the next guy, so I decided to have some fun. I stopped at this spot on the course where some spectators (more like hard core partiers) had been cheering for us all day. These guys had a couch, ez-up and a full bar. You had to see it to believe it. They offered me a beer and I gladly accepted. We shot the shit for a few minutes, I thanked them for their hard-core fan support, chugged my beer, and headed off in to the finish.

I can honestly say that was the first time I've ever done something like that during a race, but after surviving that brutal day, I thought I deserved it.

Lesson 7: As Paul Romero would say, "Ride Fast, Take Chances...". So I did.

In the end, it was a great race, and with every event, I learn something new.

Huge kudos to Jimmy Johnson for finishing his second endurance event ever. He was seriously going to throw the towel in after lap 3, but pulled through, knocked out 4 more laps and finished 5th . Good work buddy!

And lastly, huge thanks to Rob and his dad for coming out and pitting the whole race. I couldn't have done it without them.

Until next time!
AL

PS - See you guys next week at the Big Bear Single Track Epic!