I've recently been really swamped at work. Too much to do, too little time and lots of phone calls
while trying to get stuff done put me behind. I had to work a weekend to catch up and meet an
important deadline. At least it's been rainy lately.
Saturday comes and it's a beautiful cool and sunny day. I work all day until we have to go to a
wedding. It was a nice wedding and we rode our bikes there, but I didn't really get a real ride in.
Sunday comes and I'm back to work for a little in the morning, but today I have to take a little
break. I change the front tire of the Epic and pull two big thorns out of it. It's my duty to ride
this day since I had been drafted into the Tune Up's (LBS) team for 24 Hours of Sage. It's on the
local turf and the shop is a big sponsor. It's a really big team. People only have to do one lap. I
signed up for a 10:30 slot. Not knowing exactly where the start was or when I'd really ride I head
out towards Hartman Rocks.
After finding the start/finish area on the way out, I found out the guy ahead of me could be in any
time. A quick check of the bike and I start waiting. He ends up not coming for a while and people
start explaining to me how important this lap is. If I can get back before noon we could beat the
cutoff and send out one more rider and have a shot at the big team win.
My rider arrives and I take off down the road. Rick (LBS owner and team captain) rides out with me
on his SS and offers encouraging words. I hammer as hard as I can up Kill Hill and out to Hog's
back. From there the course took Hog's Back, Back of Hog's Back, up The Luge, up Broken Shovel, and
rolling on a jeep trail for a bit. Then a fast and smooth DH down Sea of Sage (upper Luge), some
technical climbing over Back of Beck's, descending Beck's (former DH course), through The Notch and
spinning back on about a mile of road to the start/finish. Rick stayed with me until the top of The
Notch. He rode along giving pacing information and offering me energy drink. Occasionally I'd open a
small gap on him, but he'd always reel me back in, hooting and hollering. I started heading back on
the paved road alone. After I got close to a turn off for a final field loop some friend's rode up
and yelled that I was cutting it close and to go! I rode as hard as I could across a new
singletrack, through a tunnel of trees with big fake spider webs and toward a very excited crowd.
They were yelling and counting down. 15, 14, I pushed as hard as I could, almost losing my front
wheel on an off camber turn, 10, 9, 8, I stood and sprinted with new energy and got a big cheer as I
crossed the line. The next rider is already sprinting back out as I get my feet under me again.
Friends crowd around and high five me. I made it. By four seconds. We ended up second. I did the
twelve Mile loop in 61 minutes, which I'm not disappointed with. I still laugh to myself when I
think of all the other people on this team who did laps in the middle of the night (it was down to
24 F that night). I slept in my own bed, came down after it warmed up, and got a glory lap. Pretty
lucky, and pretty fun. The event seems to have come off very well. It had a grass roots feel but
wasn't too amateur when it came to the timing or organization.
I'm even toying with the idea of doing it on a four person team next year. The Mrs. was saying she'd
like to do it, so if she'd do it I'd do it. It might be fun. Or not.
--
Matt
"Gravity. It's not just a good idea, it's the law!"