24 Hours of Climbing

I slept hard last night, and I haven't done much today....reports on Ben and Chris are similar. I haven't heard, but I am guessing that Paul isn't bouncing of the walls either.

This report won't be lengthy. We rode 38 laps out at Afton over 24 hours (5PM Friday - 5PM Sat) with no major problems. Then next team was 2.5-3 hours down so the race was not too stressful. Lap times were 35-40 minutes depending on the amount of light. Chris and Paul put up 33:58 and 34:20 laps respectivly around noon on Saturday! They must have found some fresh chamois=) Ben was consitently fast even though he was in a "base" phase for the Collegiate season...Go UW!

Probably the most amazing thing that happened at the race is that Rich "Richzilla" Omdahl sucked down 30 White Castle sliders between laps...who knew sliders were a substitute for Gu?

http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22657

Paul brought the RV...making this the most comfortable setup yet

Walking to the starting line

Ben working itTegan and Cousin Jeff hangin'Grandpa and Tegan Fisher getting ready for another oneCarnagePaul...no longer a 24 hour virgin

Control - Alt - Delete

For you computer literate, yep, that is what I did this week. Start over with a restful easy riding week....the volume was the same, but I kept the intensity very low. The feeling I had last weekend is not one I want to feel again. I think the reboot worked.

I felt much better at Spirit Mt yesterday, and while the result show that I got worked by Jeff, I am content this morning. Off the start, I took the hole shot and Jeff followed. By 5 min in we had a 20 second gap or so, and I wasn't' riding under any pressure. Then all of a sudden, after a rocky section, Jeff and I look up the hill to see the field cruising by. They had all unintentionally cut at least 30-40 seconds off the course! Jeff and I flew up the trail and they let us pass. I was flustered, but they all let us by. We had a gap soon again, but a foolish crash left me alone with missing skin on my left hip. I waited up for Paul and the chasers who I finished the first 1/2 lap with (it was a 2.5 lap race and the first lap was a 1/2 lap).

At the start of the next lap, I got away by a bit again...then BURP! Yep, the tire burped, but luckily Mr Stan and my CO2 cartridge saved the day. Sam went by me and the chasers almost caught me by the time I got back in the saddle. I went hard and caught Sam, and from then on we rode together (save the time I twisted my handlebars and had to chase back again!). We gapped the chasers pretty good on the sweet new climb they added. I should not that this is the most fun and challenging climb I have encountered in the Midwest....rocky, rooty and steep. Thanks to all the Duluth trail workers and Scotty K for making a sweet course.

Going into the final lap, Jeff had 3 minutes on us, so Sam and I just sat up and took a easy lap. He was feeling pretty bad about cutting the course, and he said that I had him on the rivet during the climb anyway. In the end I rolled in ahead of Sam, as he burped a tire on the last climb and told me not to wait.

Summary: legs felt good despite 2 silly crashes and a flat. I definitely could have gone faster yesterday, but it just would have made the gap smaller to Jeff...what is the point of being a closer second? =)

24 of Afton this weekend...if it doesn't dry out, we are out.

Just one of 'dem days...

My face at the finish says it all: Welch really took it to me today. I kind of saw it coming, but didn't want to believe it and didn't tell anybody. My legs had been hurting abnormally this week. I felt it at Buck on Thursday, where Sam rode away from me, and it was the same story today. To be honest, I really wanted to quit, and I had to convince myself to keep riding. The reason that I kept going was to show the younger riders that never giving up is important.

The race:

At the start, Jason Wenk slipped a pedal or something and took me out. I was dead last before I knew it. I got clipped in and had to put in a hard effort to recover, but this put me into the red way too early. This was the worst scenario, as my legs already had lead in them. From there, I hung on to the leaders for about 1/2 the first lap...never really recovering.

At that point, I decided to cut my losses and just ride. Sam O is climbing like a crazy man right now and rode away from Ben and Jay. Sam told me on Thursday and again today that he is feeling amazing right now.

I don't know how, but I ended up only a minute or so down from Ben and Jay (according to my dad, I haven't seen the results). With dead legs, 4th is more than I deserved.

Me, no where to be seen at the startWorking my way up

Tegan telling me, "its ok, daddy, get em next time."

Next weekend is Spirit Mt in Duluth....until the, some rest.