The 2009 24 Hour Of Burn by BikeRumor was held on May 23-24th at Dark Mountain in North Wilkesboro, NC. The course was the same 7 mile loop of single track which covers about 1,000ft of vertical per lap in 4 main climbs. My pre-race goal was 18 laps which would not only be a personal best for me, but would put me somewhere in the top ten. For me, this 24 hour solo race is really two 12 hours with a terrible Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex.
Was up and out of bed at 06:00 on the 23rd. Was about 1.5hrs early, but my neighbor thought is was a great time to power wash his deck. BG was an 88 which is spot on perfect. Since the car was already packed, I was out the door pretty quick and heading to Dark Mountain in North Wilkesboro.
While in the car I made the usual modification to my pump settings, and set my target BG to 150 instead of the normal 100. Drifted a little high in the car and once I arrived at the race site, but I didn’t panic and over correct so it was no problem. Found the Cycling Spoken Here van, setup the tent, and got all my stuff layed out and organized.
Set my basal rate to a 55% reduction at 11:00 on the nose.
Warmed up and lined up for Le Mans start a couple of minutes before noon on Saturday. Felt great and excited but not nervous. Plan was to ride my own race and hit my goal. Race start right at high noon.
First 4 laps went pretty much according to plan. Continuous Monitor was telling me my BGs where in an acceptable range, and that I was trending near flat. Perfect.
The only tiny hiccup in the first 12 hours was on the following lap. For fun I parked the Superfly and grabbed the HiFi for lap 5. Nearing the top of the entry climb I hear this weird noise from the rear brake. Strange I thought… turned out to be the 6 bolt disc adapter had come completely loose and popped off. I stopped and tried to tighten it with my finger. I noticed it said torque to 210lbs on it and realized this was pointless. Tried to ride on it again, but it worked its way off. I lost a few more minutes stopping to pull the rear rotor completely off. Finished the last 5 miles of trail with just the front brake, but it was not a big deal.
Set my basal rate down another 10% to my normal > 5 hour ride 65% reduction.
Back on Superfly for lap 6. Navigator CGM stopped working at this time. I wear it on the back of my arm, and I think the continuous shaking due to mountain bike terrain shock it loose. For the race of the race I carried my test kit in my pocket, and stopped to test on each lap.
Carried on until midnight right on schedule and feeling VERY good. Finished lap 8 a little before midnight, which put me right on my target. For one or two minutes I let myself enjoy the thought that I was right where I should be for a top ten finish. Nothing could have gone better in the first 12 hours. Refocus and out on lap 9 at 00:07.
Within the next 10 minutes it all went to crap.
On the down hill switchback section I was caught by a 5 person team rider. I was riding the high side of the bermed switch back turns. I saw/heard the rider coming up and just shouted back to give me 15 seconds to get out of the way. He decided to try and dive on the inside on the berm and pass me there. Great idea, poor execution.
He overcooked the corner and basically t-boned me at speed. I cart wheeled off to the outside of the turn, and over the top of the berm. On the way my cleat hung up a little which sprained my MCL, I smacked my head on the rocks and broke my helmet, and then landed flat on my back on the rocks on the other side. He stopped and yelled something, and while laying there I told him I was ok. He took off.
I layed there for another minute or so, and then got up and tried to get gathered back up. Between the pain in my knee and in my back I could barely pedal my bike at all. It took me nearly 2.5 hours to finish lap number 9. I just limped it in.
While trying to walk/ride/scooter the bike in for this lap I stopped my temp basal rate, and stopped taking in any fuel.
Iced my knee and tried numerous times through out the night to get back out and ride. But I was physically wrecked and in some pain. Can’t pedal. Race over.
The disappointment was unlike any I had felt before. Maybe it was due to the amount of training I had been doing that lead up to this race, or the fact that the first 12 hours where perfect. I didn’t get on any bike for 8 days. I didn’t take time to do any maintenance or unpack the majority of my race equipment for almost 2 weeks. I didn’t go to the shop. I couldn’t bring myself to write this race report. I was just bummed.
Looking back now a couple of weeks, I am feeling better about it. I was on target for my goal, I beat some people even though I only road half the event, and diabetes didn’t cause my early retirement. Time to just chalk it up, and move on to the next fast coming event.
World's Greatest Training Partner and Crew Member Marcee
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