The day after DTD on the way home . The weather was awesome, with no signs of what happened the day before 4hrs south.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xUoHFZTxVM&feature=youtu.be
Thursday 19 April 2012
Wednesday 18 April 2012
2012 Dawn til Dusk..
Well, with a few months of training, and preparation, I jump in the truck, load the bikes, and head south to Gallup NM to compete in 12 hrs of mtb endurance racing.
The trip down in itself is a bit daunting. Around 2200kms of driving with approx 25hrs on the road. This would allow for some sleeps in the back seat and some dinner breaks.
So out the door I head, on a warm Wednesday afternoon, 4:30pm armed with a cooler full of food, a Google map, 2 bikes, race gear, tools, water, tent, table, and a goal in mind.
Jumping ahead, I hit all 3 seasons in the drive, including a monsoon downpour in Salt Lake. I finally arrive around 9 pm. Thursday evening at the Econolodge motel on historic route 66 in Gallup NM.
While checking in, I meet up with a fellow student of Shaun's, Antonio. He and I had been chatting back and forth about competing in this race. I had met Antonio in Austin just prior to the RHR race last October.
I have to say he was looking really fit, and you couldn't miss him for the huge smile on face, which is surprising in itself after flying in from Austin and then driving the 2.5 hrs in a rental van to Gallup. You could tell he had a long day as well.
I unload the truck and get my room setup. At this point I'm pretty darn hungry as all I have really eaten in the last day and half is the bagel sandwiches and oatmeal I had packed from home. I "Yelp" Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately the top 3 restaurants that come up are closed for the night, so I opt for lucky #4 "Le Somberero" restaurant.
After being setaed, I order up a large ice tea (it was real too, not pop) and 2 chicken enchiladas with rice and refried beans. Truth be known, I couldn't finish the plate... and the flavors were absolutely awesome. I highly recommend it. Don't let the 5 year old Christmas lights hanging from ceiling put you off. The food was fantastic.
Off to my cozy motel room and off to bed.....yeah, not. The interior walls were assembled prior to the invention of batt insulation. I could hear every word of conversation from my neighbours next door. Hell, I would have joined in if I could speak spanish , "pour favor" so around the 12 am mark my neighbours head off to the washroom, and then into bed for a sleep. I know all this... because their toilet was working just fine as well as their snoring. So armed with earplugs I finally fall asleep at the 1 am mark.
4 am I awake to my other neighbours heading out to work, I know this as they enjoy watching the news in the morning with their coffee the same as I. I finally get back to sleep and wake up around 8am, Friday morning.
A beautiful cup of pour over coffee, a shower, and off to meet Antonio for breakfast then a preride and then later on to pickup our race packages up at a local bar restaurant.
Sammy 'C's
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sammy-cs-rock-n-sports-pub-and-grille-gallup
Breakfast burrito at Dennys, was spot on followed by 2 cups of coffee, a couple of pit stops for directions, and to buy more water and /bottles and next thing you know, Antonio and I are straddling our bikes on the start/finish line ready to do a little preride on the race course.
THe course itself was a bit on the dry side, there was a lot of sand in the corners , so you really had to make sure you slowed down for the corners or you could get yourself in trouble. There also was quite a bit of wind, on the outcrops at the higher elevations.
The wind didn't bother me as it is typical of Calgary riding this time of year. What did concern me was the storm that was forecasted for the day of the race.
Just to back up a bit, the forecast for Saturday (race day) has been unfavorable for the last week. I remember looking at the forecast on Monday, seeing that the weather was predicted to be as a low (in the morning ) -3C and a high of 13C in the afternoon, with a 40% chance of precip.
I was pretty excited to read this as this was also typical of Calgary weather this time of year, and thought that these conditions would be well suited to me. Unfortunately as I drive down and checking the weather, I notice that the prediction for race day is becoming more and more grim. The latest forecast put the conditions at 35-40mph winds, and a low of -4C and a high 3C with a 60% chance of precip and most likely in the snow format.
Again I wasn't too concerned about the temps but I was starting to get a bit aware of what too much precip could do to the already super dry course. You see last year the event was stopped, 10 hrs into the event thanks to these similar conditions. In 2010 the race was cancelled all together thanks to this weather. I have no control over this and we just have to hope for the best, I have good clothes, and good equipment, we will see where this takes us.
Friday night, Antonio and I dropped my truck off right next to the race course, and we elected not to setup the tent as we figured that if the wind picked up we could have a problem. I parked the truck to give us as much shield from the weather as possible, and setup the table on the "less breezy side" of the truck with spare gloves, and all my bottles and supplies, as well as Antonio's This would allow both of us to do the ride by and grab what we needed without losing any time in the race.
9pm, with the number plates on the bikes, a preride and a huge dinner under our belts we both decided to call it a day. Well.... around 11pm I finally get to sleep, as this is when my neighbours decided to call it a day, ( after some crazy violent movie of course).
I awake at 1pm so darn hungry it's not even funny. I make some oatmeal, read some e-mails on my phone and reply :) do a little stretching and foam roller, and I finally get back to sleep at around 2:15am.
4:30 am I wake back up, this time for the day. I start making some pour over coffee for Antonio and myself. Looking out the window, I see great weather conditions. I'm thinking it's cool but hardly any clouds. I think we are in for a great race! The forecast and all the weather professionals are wrong!
The Race:
6:40 am standing in the timing tent, for the prerace meeting, some highlights were: when the wind picks up, "be careful of the cliffs" "We've lost some riders down there". Okeydoke, mental note...
If and when we call the race due to weather, (because we have a storm forecasted for today). One of the Course volunteers/marshalls, will let you know on the way by or when you check in for your lap. This will be considered your 2 hour rule, meaning that the event is over in 2 hrs.
Off to the road we go for a mass start. 7am... go....
Lap 1
They start us all on the road at once, and for around 2 or so miles we ride on fire road as this will give the fast riders and not so fast riders a chance to position themselves naturally. Then they funnel us all down into single track and onto the course.
We head off. I ride with Antonio for a minute or so, and then I decide I have to get with my group so I step it up a bit. I hear Antonio behind me yell out "go get em Dave!" which I though was pretty cool.
I work my way into the lead group of the race not knowing who is in my category but assuming I am with the faster riders of the course. As we continue on the Fire road I start to see the "going out hard" not so fast riders drop off the pace in front and settle into their own race pace. I push on, and put myself (I'm assuming) up in the top 20 of the race, as I can't see any riders past the line of the group I'm in.
I settle in and get setup for the funnel to the singletrack expecting castastrophe, when this happens but it goes off with out a hitch. Which is good. I did have one really aggresive rider thread the needle between myself and another rider, first hitting my bars with his and then the other riders. This is all part of it I think, and just let it go with out a second thought... even though it could have ended both our days right there.
Current weather conditions: Sunny and cool with a good breeze, beautiful conditions.
At this point I find my flow, keep my rythmn and stay in contact with the lead field, I don't get passed by anyone as I am at the end of the front pack, with no one presently behind me... I like this.
I ride into the start/finish line and see I am still in the top group with a 56 min lap, but I have a small problem, I have to take a bathroom break. With the long drive and my diet messed up, being awake so early, drinking coffee etc etc... you get the idea. I wouldn't want to get stuck out on the course without taking care of this.
Post bathroom break Lap 2:
I get back out on course and I see the wind is starting to really pick up and some really thick and dark clouds are rolling in.....here we go.
Now I have to work my way through riders again to find my group, I'm pretty much convinced, it will not happen this lap but it will on the next as long as I stay at my current pace.
At around the halfway mark of this lap, I see the snow start to come down, at first really light, like dander. Within 20 mins the snow is now "quarter" size and blowing sideways, and yes you feel it on the cliffs.
I finish this lap and start seeing some familar bikes ahead when I head out on....
3rd lap
My hands are starting to get cold, I'm wearing my "kayak" gloves but they are doing nothing for the wind. Good thing I brought my Lobster claw gloves.... I fight for what seems forever to get the claws on my wet cold hands. It happens, but man it took some work. Off I go!
The course has changed exponentially at this point, it is like the top layer of sand (on the climbs) is a really sticky mud that peels on to your tires leaving a dry sandy strip underneath for the precip to do this magic once again. The tires would hang onto this crap, unless you were going fast enough so that it would fly off and hit you in the face and body but at least it would allow the tires to keep the thickness of mud that was sticking to it down to at least 3/8" or so. It would make a funny sound too while riding in this mess, it would be like the sound of horses or cows eating. I dunno I'm reaching....
About 3 miles into the this lap I pass a course volunteer who then says, "the race has been called" "this is your last lap, make it good". I yelled back to him and said "you're kidding!" At this point he said "nope!"
I think back to the morning meeting and figured that since I was not told as (I checked in from my previous lap), to start this lap, that the 2 hour rule has now started. That would still mean that I have to pick up the pace either way.
I pass everyone and everything I can see, I see that alot of people are having bike issues, and I'm more lucky than them. I start to think that I may have to ride my spare bike to complete my fourth and final lap as to not take a chance of a mechanical.
The course sucks, plain and simple, it's super greasy in the lower sections and when you climb out you get the mud sticking to your tires and flicking in your face. At this time I got rid of my glasses as they were so gummed up I couldn't see out of them anyways. This is where I adopted the squint method which worked pretty good for the most part. However what mud that was not going in my eyes was now going into my gaping mouth, which evidently, was to capture air not mud.
As I turn the last corner into the start finish line I see a few people standing at the line and another girl was stopping people from going out, which she did for me as well... when I rolled in.
20+ hrs of driving and 3 laps later my race was done. Now what do I do?
Go clean up and eat a huge lunch with my buddy Antonio, over some beers! Complain about the race a little, and move on.....
I'll be adding some videos very soon, so check back. Until then here is a vid from the first lap of the race before the camera crew pulled the pin.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/252589/
http://www.dawntilduskrace.com/
Leaving 3 days prior, I wanted to get down to the event as soon as possible, without speeding tickets etc. This would give my body a chance to maybe acclimate the to 6500' elevation that Gallups boasts. (Calgary is 3900'-4000').
I thought that this would be my biggest challenge, boy was I wrong....
Jumping ahead, I hit all 3 seasons in the drive, including a monsoon downpour in Salt Lake. I finally arrive around 9 pm. Thursday evening at the Econolodge motel on historic route 66 in Gallup NM.
While checking in, I meet up with a fellow student of Shaun's, Antonio. He and I had been chatting back and forth about competing in this race. I had met Antonio in Austin just prior to the RHR race last October.
I have to say he was looking really fit, and you couldn't miss him for the huge smile on face, which is surprising in itself after flying in from Austin and then driving the 2.5 hrs in a rental van to Gallup. You could tell he had a long day as well.
I unload the truck and get my room setup. At this point I'm pretty darn hungry as all I have really eaten in the last day and half is the bagel sandwiches and oatmeal I had packed from home. I "Yelp" Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately the top 3 restaurants that come up are closed for the night, so I opt for lucky #4 "Le Somberero" restaurant.
After being setaed, I order up a large ice tea (it was real too, not pop) and 2 chicken enchiladas with rice and refried beans. Truth be known, I couldn't finish the plate... and the flavors were absolutely awesome. I highly recommend it. Don't let the 5 year old Christmas lights hanging from ceiling put you off. The food was fantastic.
Off to my cozy motel room and off to bed.....yeah, not. The interior walls were assembled prior to the invention of batt insulation. I could hear every word of conversation from my neighbours next door. Hell, I would have joined in if I could speak spanish , "pour favor" so around the 12 am mark my neighbours head off to the washroom, and then into bed for a sleep. I know all this... because their toilet was working just fine as well as their snoring. So armed with earplugs I finally fall asleep at the 1 am mark.
4 am I awake to my other neighbours heading out to work, I know this as they enjoy watching the news in the morning with their coffee the same as I. I finally get back to sleep and wake up around 8am, Friday morning.
A beautiful cup of pour over coffee, a shower, and off to meet Antonio for breakfast then a preride and then later on to pickup our race packages up at a local bar restaurant.
Sammy 'C's
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sammy-cs-rock-n-sports-pub-and-grille-gallup
Breakfast burrito at Dennys, was spot on followed by 2 cups of coffee, a couple of pit stops for directions, and to buy more water and /bottles and next thing you know, Antonio and I are straddling our bikes on the start/finish line ready to do a little preride on the race course.
THe course itself was a bit on the dry side, there was a lot of sand in the corners , so you really had to make sure you slowed down for the corners or you could get yourself in trouble. There also was quite a bit of wind, on the outcrops at the higher elevations.
The wind didn't bother me as it is typical of Calgary riding this time of year. What did concern me was the storm that was forecasted for the day of the race.
Just to back up a bit, the forecast for Saturday (race day) has been unfavorable for the last week. I remember looking at the forecast on Monday, seeing that the weather was predicted to be as a low (in the morning ) -3C and a high of 13C in the afternoon, with a 40% chance of precip.
I was pretty excited to read this as this was also typical of Calgary weather this time of year, and thought that these conditions would be well suited to me. Unfortunately as I drive down and checking the weather, I notice that the prediction for race day is becoming more and more grim. The latest forecast put the conditions at 35-40mph winds, and a low of -4C and a high 3C with a 60% chance of precip and most likely in the snow format.
Again I wasn't too concerned about the temps but I was starting to get a bit aware of what too much precip could do to the already super dry course. You see last year the event was stopped, 10 hrs into the event thanks to these similar conditions. In 2010 the race was cancelled all together thanks to this weather. I have no control over this and we just have to hope for the best, I have good clothes, and good equipment, we will see where this takes us.
Friday night, Antonio and I dropped my truck off right next to the race course, and we elected not to setup the tent as we figured that if the wind picked up we could have a problem. I parked the truck to give us as much shield from the weather as possible, and setup the table on the "less breezy side" of the truck with spare gloves, and all my bottles and supplies, as well as Antonio's This would allow both of us to do the ride by and grab what we needed without losing any time in the race.
9pm, with the number plates on the bikes, a preride and a huge dinner under our belts we both decided to call it a day. Well.... around 11pm I finally get to sleep, as this is when my neighbours decided to call it a day, ( after some crazy violent movie of course).
I awake at 1pm so darn hungry it's not even funny. I make some oatmeal, read some e-mails on my phone and reply :) do a little stretching and foam roller, and I finally get back to sleep at around 2:15am.
4:30 am I wake back up, this time for the day. I start making some pour over coffee for Antonio and myself. Looking out the window, I see great weather conditions. I'm thinking it's cool but hardly any clouds. I think we are in for a great race! The forecast and all the weather professionals are wrong!
The Race:
6:40 am standing in the timing tent, for the prerace meeting, some highlights were: when the wind picks up, "be careful of the cliffs" "We've lost some riders down there". Okeydoke, mental note...
If and when we call the race due to weather, (because we have a storm forecasted for today). One of the Course volunteers/marshalls, will let you know on the way by or when you check in for your lap. This will be considered your 2 hour rule, meaning that the event is over in 2 hrs.
Off to the road we go for a mass start. 7am... go....
Lap 1
They start us all on the road at once, and for around 2 or so miles we ride on fire road as this will give the fast riders and not so fast riders a chance to position themselves naturally. Then they funnel us all down into single track and onto the course.
We head off. I ride with Antonio for a minute or so, and then I decide I have to get with my group so I step it up a bit. I hear Antonio behind me yell out "go get em Dave!" which I though was pretty cool.
I work my way into the lead group of the race not knowing who is in my category but assuming I am with the faster riders of the course. As we continue on the Fire road I start to see the "going out hard" not so fast riders drop off the pace in front and settle into their own race pace. I push on, and put myself (I'm assuming) up in the top 20 of the race, as I can't see any riders past the line of the group I'm in.
I settle in and get setup for the funnel to the singletrack expecting castastrophe, when this happens but it goes off with out a hitch. Which is good. I did have one really aggresive rider thread the needle between myself and another rider, first hitting my bars with his and then the other riders. This is all part of it I think, and just let it go with out a second thought... even though it could have ended both our days right there.
Current weather conditions: Sunny and cool with a good breeze, beautiful conditions.
At this point I find my flow, keep my rythmn and stay in contact with the lead field, I don't get passed by anyone as I am at the end of the front pack, with no one presently behind me... I like this.
I ride into the start/finish line and see I am still in the top group with a 56 min lap, but I have a small problem, I have to take a bathroom break. With the long drive and my diet messed up, being awake so early, drinking coffee etc etc... you get the idea. I wouldn't want to get stuck out on the course without taking care of this.
Post bathroom break Lap 2:
I get back out on course and I see the wind is starting to really pick up and some really thick and dark clouds are rolling in.....here we go.
Now I have to work my way through riders again to find my group, I'm pretty much convinced, it will not happen this lap but it will on the next as long as I stay at my current pace.
At around the halfway mark of this lap, I see the snow start to come down, at first really light, like dander. Within 20 mins the snow is now "quarter" size and blowing sideways, and yes you feel it on the cliffs.
I finish this lap and start seeing some familar bikes ahead when I head out on....
3rd lap
My hands are starting to get cold, I'm wearing my "kayak" gloves but they are doing nothing for the wind. Good thing I brought my Lobster claw gloves.... I fight for what seems forever to get the claws on my wet cold hands. It happens, but man it took some work. Off I go!
The course has changed exponentially at this point, it is like the top layer of sand (on the climbs) is a really sticky mud that peels on to your tires leaving a dry sandy strip underneath for the precip to do this magic once again. The tires would hang onto this crap, unless you were going fast enough so that it would fly off and hit you in the face and body but at least it would allow the tires to keep the thickness of mud that was sticking to it down to at least 3/8" or so. It would make a funny sound too while riding in this mess, it would be like the sound of horses or cows eating. I dunno I'm reaching....
About 3 miles into the this lap I pass a course volunteer who then says, "the race has been called" "this is your last lap, make it good". I yelled back to him and said "you're kidding!" At this point he said "nope!"
I think back to the morning meeting and figured that since I was not told as (I checked in from my previous lap), to start this lap, that the 2 hour rule has now started. That would still mean that I have to pick up the pace either way.
I pass everyone and everything I can see, I see that alot of people are having bike issues, and I'm more lucky than them. I start to think that I may have to ride my spare bike to complete my fourth and final lap as to not take a chance of a mechanical.
The course sucks, plain and simple, it's super greasy in the lower sections and when you climb out you get the mud sticking to your tires and flicking in your face. At this time I got rid of my glasses as they were so gummed up I couldn't see out of them anyways. This is where I adopted the squint method which worked pretty good for the most part. However what mud that was not going in my eyes was now going into my gaping mouth, which evidently, was to capture air not mud.
As I turn the last corner into the start finish line I see a few people standing at the line and another girl was stopping people from going out, which she did for me as well... when I rolled in.
20+ hrs of driving and 3 laps later my race was done. Now what do I do?
Go clean up and eat a huge lunch with my buddy Antonio, over some beers! Complain about the race a little, and move on.....
2am Sunday morning, I'm back on the road headed north, I figured I had some legs left in me to do some biking in Moab on the way home. Which is just what I did.
I'll be adding some videos very soon, so check back. Until then here is a vid from the first lap of the race before the camera crew pulled the pin.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/252589/
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