I had never tried a 24 hour race before and was looking forward to it but not sure what to expect. What I definitely hadnt expected was it to be so cold - with 2 inches of snow on the ground that morning! Made me a little worried straight away! But it did feel a little warmer as we arrived at the start and the sun came out. Maybe it wouldnt be so bad!
There was a 100 m dash to the start where I grabbed my bike and hopped on. I had no idea what the trail would be like beforehand! There was a fairly easy 5 mile uphill to start followed by an easy 5 mile downhill - disappointing - not the type of course I was hoping for (I prefer more of a downhill). Then there was about 3 miles of rolling hills with a steep, rocky, more technical section towards the end. The first three laps were good and I rode well - despite not feeling great - stomachwise. At lap 8 however I was in 5th place only 1 lap behind the leaders and was feeling pretty pleased with myself, especially as I was feeling so ill! It was getting dark at this stage so I put my lights on - excellent - really pleased with them. However on the 9th lap on the downhill section my front light went out and I couldnt see properly! My helmet light worked but this wasnt so great - I would turn a corner and see into the bushes rather than the trail head - not good! Then on the steep part of the course my front tyre popped and I fell, bruising my hip. But I fixed the tyre and went to use my CO2 cannister, screwed in the valve only to find the connection wasnt long enough! Never mind - I would use my pump - but no that seized up on me! So I ended up hiking along the trail until I could borrow a pump from a check point guy! At last I was on my way again! Although I pumped it up a little too much in the dark which didnt make for a comfortable ride!
I got back to the car and immediately set off for the next lap hoping to make up some of the lost time! I was not particularly enjoying the course, especially the rocky section at the end. I had been hoping for more of a downhill section - on the last lap I only had to touch my brakes twice on the whole of the downhill - so overall I was a bit upset with the way things were turning out! Not how I had imagined and my stomach was feeling dreadful!! I hadnt eaten properly and was struggling with the cold! My water bottle was frozen by the end of the next lap! I would get too hot on the climb up and too cold on the downhill! When I got back to the car I decided to sleep for a while - but after an hour I woke absolutely freezing - shivering like crazy - so I decided to put the heater on, take off some of my biking gear and sleep a little longer! Well - that was it - although I did eventually warm up I decided not to go back out again!!
I actually completed 12x laps though because we were parked just before the Finish line I forgot to check in on the last one so am recorded as only completing 11!! Never mind! Despite all this I still placed 9th overall - much better than I thought - though I was obviously disappointed in my overall performance! It just wasnt my day! I could have coped with not liking the course but not with being cold and sick!! I will keep taking the antibiotics and hope that when the course is finished (6 months from end of August!!) I can get my stomach sorted out and be back to full power for this sort of race!! I will definitely try another 24 hour race - and be better prepared all round next time!!
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