24 Hours of Adrenalin

This past weekend was filled with long climbs, gnarly downhills, wildlife, insomnia, and yes of course... adrenalin.

24 Hours of Adrenalin is a mountain bike race series that holds events all over the US (and Canadia). And yes, the races are 24 hours long. They start at noon on Saturday and end at noon on Sunday. You can enter the race as a relay team of 2, 4, or 5 people, or race solo. The goal is to complete the most amount of laps in the shortest amount of time during the 24 hour period and you have to finish between 11am and 1pm. One lap is your typical Saturday mountain bike ride - 8-12 miles, 1 hour (if you are moving pretty well). So it can get pretty grueling.

The worst part of it all is riding at night. I'm not talking about 8-10pm, thats no big deal, it's just dark out and the HID lights we use throw plenty of light. But getting yourself ready to jump on a bike and bust your ass at 3 or 4 am is brutal. Especially when you know what is waiting for you out on the mountain. You see and hear everything from tarantulas, scorpions, bobcats, coyotes, and even cougars. And no, not the kind you hunt for at bars, the kind that will hunt you, aka Mountain Lions.

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Seeing a pair of eyes glowing back at you in the dead of night in the most desolate mountain area with no one around is probably the scariest thing you can encounter. And trust me, I know from experience. A few races ago, I saw a giant brown animal slinking across a meadow, walking like a typical cat would only with just about 120 more pounds of wild muscle. What caught my eye was the reflection of 1 single eye glowing in the reflection of my HID light. When I turned to look at it, I saw the animal turn its head at me, and now there were 2 eyes pointed right at me. It was far enough away that my lights didn't completely reach it, but the eyes were as clear as day and I knew it was something big and brown. I never pedaled so fast in all my life. Since that night, I never take my eyes off the trail.

Anyway, back to the race. I had originally entered with a 5 person co-ed team. Our team captain came down with the flu, so he was out. Last time my team was forced to enter as a 4 person team, it worked out in our favor since we won the event outright. But this time, the rest of the team wanted to stay in the co-ed 5 person category. My brother Greg filled in for 1 lap so we could stay in the same category, but essentially, we were now a 4 person team competing against 5 person teams and we still got 5th place. If we had just entered as a 4 person team, we would have been on the podium, 2nd place guaranteed. Oh well, live and learn. I still had a great weekend.

I completed the last lap for our team along side my Dad, who raced in the event solo. He was on his 12th lap (yes, he did 13 total = psycho), so we just cruised. I was basically his lead blocker through all the wind. It was super gusty, so he just drafted me the whole lap. It was pretty cool riding with him during a race. When we got back to the campsite, I just waited till 11am to cross the finish line, beer in hand. Booya.