Another year of the 24 Hour
Champion Challenge at 7 Springs is in the books and, man, was it a blast! For
most normal folks, the thought of riding a bike through the day and night in
mud and muck while already suffering from sleep deprivation and fatigue would
seem like something from Dante’s Inferno. For the dedicated mountain biker,
however, it is a sort of twisted bliss. It taps into that part of you that
wants to know just how much more you can take after you have reached your
limit. Plus, it is just a crap load of fun to be completely dedicated to
nothing but your bike and a team for a solid 24 hour period!
Last year, I did this race as part
of the Dynamic Physical Therapy team with Gunnar and Betsy Shogren and JR Petsko and had an
absolute blast. This year, with Gunnar, Betsy, and myself all being on the Pathfinder
of WV/Stans NoTubes team, ¾ of the prior years team was able to head back up
and was rounded out with the addition of current Pathfinder/NoTubes teammate Scott
Benson. As was the prior year, we signed up for the 4-man Expert race even
though we had a woman on the team. However, since it is Betsy Shogren we are talking about, it’s
really just like having another expert male rider given her speed and skill.
On Saturday at high noon the race
kicked off with a Le Mans style start consisting of a five to six minute run around
Tahoe Lake at the top of the mountain to our bikes waiting on the other side.
Being the youngest of the four, I was given the honor and privilege of plodding
around the lake in Easton EC90 soled shoes to the tune of hamstring cramps and
shin splints. Not being a runner in the slightest sense, I was a midpacker
getting to the bikes. However, after some sketchy gravel road passes and all
out efforts I was able to move up to third overall. After a few more minutes of
racing I found myself mid-lap and in second with the leader Jason Cyr, riding
with the Dirty Harry’s corporate team, in sight not far ahead.
At the outset of the race, Gunnar Shogren, in his unspoken but official
team captain capacity, made the bold and kind of crazy announcement that we
were here to “race everybody” meaning that we would go after the overall lead
for as long as possible and just turn ourselves inside out every lap. Granted,
I had been thinking that we might be able to go after it, at least for a few
hours, but to actually hear someone say it and think about doing it made it
seem nearly insane. We would be competing against teams with twice as many people.
That meant that our 4-5 laps each would have to be just as fast as their 2-3
laps each. Basically, we had to go just as hard twice as much. Definitely a
tall order to try and fill.
So, when I saw Jason up ahead I
knew I had to just get on it and go get him. I kept him in sight until we got
to the big climb on the course. Being about seven minutes in length, I knew
that this would be the place to get up to his wheel. I put in a nice little
effort to get up to his wheel in the first few minutes of the climb and then
just stayed on his wheel for the remainder of the climb. I figured I could make
the pass but it seemed pointless given the upcoming rock gardens and the fact
that this was only lap one of five. No point in wasting that much gas so early.
The crowds were crazy and really
got us going. There were literally people lining the entire course where it
came through the camp and, being the first ones through, Jason and I got the
biggest roar you could ever imagine! Below is a pic Gunnar snagged of Jason and I coming past on lap 1.
I was able to hang onto Jason
closely enough through the technical stuff that I was still near enough to make
a move on the final climb. Coming in about 45 seconds to a minute ahead of him, I secured the
overall lead for team Pathfinder/NoTubes.
After going through our rotation of
myself, Gunnar, Scott, then Betsy, it was back to me. I arrived at the start
tent and immediately checked the overall standing. We had dropped down to third
overall but only had a 6-minute deficit to the leader. I figured that if all
went well and the stars aligned I might be able to catch us back up to the
lead. So, per Captain Gnars instructions, I turned myself inside out, caught us
up to the leader, put about 2 minutes on the lead, and set the 2nd
fastest lap of the day. With Gunnar on deck, I knew we would at least be able
to hold the lead for this rotation and we did up until about 8 or 9 PM.
Granted, taking the overall or even keeping it until midnight would have been
amazing but, in reality, it is damn near impossible to do with a 4 man team.
With those illusion of grandeur
over we shifted our focus to our actual competition, the Expert 4 man race.
Given our early eagerness, we had established a massive gap on second place in the field. That was
good because the rain and darkness were moving in and things were going to slow
way down. Luckily, Scott was one of the ones headed out for a rainy night lap.
If you don’t know Scott, just know that he is one of the biggest hardasses when
it comes to riding in less than ideal and epic conditions. Put simply, when it
gets bad Scott goes fast. Given my apprehension to the rain, muck, and dark I
was more than happy to see Scott head out in it all. After Scott was Betsy
who, despite her nervousness about the general nastiness of things at the time,
went out and did one of the faster laps of anyone on course at the time. No
wonder lots of the boys get nervous when she shows up to these things!
My two night laps went well given
the strategy I employed. Last year I had a rough time at night for multiple
reasons so this year I decided just to back it off and use the night laps to
recover. I still was able to turn in some fast night laps and backing the pace
off really helped me stay a little fresher for my last morning lap. Night time
is definitely interesting at a 24 hour race and how you play it can make you or
break you. One of my biggest tips is to never acknowledge the actual time. Once
you realize its 3 AM and you are on your bike is when you start to realize how
tired you actually are. Just keep pedaling and don’t think about the dark.
After my last night lap around 4 AM
I was able to go to sleep for a few hours. As weird as it sounds, sleeping
after the second night lap is one of my favorite things of the whole night. Not
simply because I am finally getting some sleep but because of just how awesome
the quality of sleep is. I only was asleep for about 2 hours but it felt like I
was out for 12. You just wake up with the morning sun feeling really refreshed
even though, in reality, you are suffering from extreme sleep deprivation at
this point. I think its kind of one of those things that you have to experience
to understand so if you think the above sounds crazy, it’s understandable.
My last lap of the race was around
10 AM Sunday morning. I was feeling pretty toasted from my previous 4 laps so I
just tried to play it safe through the tough stuff and then really slam the climbs and fireroads. My last lap was a little slower than expected at
around 1:16 but, with 2 laps up on the next team down, it really didn’t matter
at this point. Gunnar ended up crushing his last lap, turning in a 1:13. That
may not sound fast when compared to the fastest laps of the race but
considering the fact it was his 5th makes it pretty amazing!
The whole race weekend went pretty
seamlessly thanks to a lot of people who deserve mention. First off, thanks to
our title sponsor Pathfinder of WV for not only getting us the right gear for
the race but also for tuning up our bikes and putting up with our near constant
visits in the days leading up to the race. Andy, Gabe, and the rest of the
crew, you guys rock! Thanks to NoTubes for the ultimate in flat protection and
tubeless performance. Reliable wheels=reliable racing! Thanks to Jacob
Muscavage for wrenching for us this weekend. Those bikes were pretty gross
after the rain and I am so happy I didn’t have to clean it to get ready for
another lap. Huge thanks to Mom and Dad Latocha for towing up the camper,
cooking for us, making us beds to sleep in, and driving us down to the lodge
for showers. Basically, thanks for playing mom and dad for 4 grown adults for
the weekend! Thanks to Sean Hilty for coming up to just help out in the evening, hang out, and also for bringing my bike back to town and hosing it off for me! Finally, personal thanks from me to Cannondale and Rob Voorhees
for making sure I have the best bike setups for me possible. It is really great
being able to ride the best bikes in the business and I am already drooling for
my 2013 gear! That's all for now but with collegiate and 'cross kicking off soon there is sure to be more to come from me! Thanks for reading.
- TL
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