2010 National 24 Hour Challenge, Middleville, MI

Friday

I arrived in Middleville around 5pm. Went to the Thornapple Kellogg Middle School to pick up my ride packet. Thornapple Kellogg Middle School is also where the ride takes place. While there, people were busy setting up there tents, gear, etc. It was very hot, and sunny. But, like last year a major storm came through later that night. So, tents went flying every where, and things got wet, at least that’s what I heard from other riders who camped.

After picking up the packet, I headed to my hotel room, in Grand Rapids, about 18 miles away. Had dinner, and went to bed around 10pm.






Photos by Allison Alonzo
(Thanks Allison for the photos, and asking me if I needed anything. Allison did not ride this year, she was crewing for her friend, Alison Murphy. The photos taken on the start of night loop.)


Saturday

Got up Saturday morning around 5am, got dressed, ate some food, and headed over to the start. If you’re not camping, you need to get there early, to get a good parking spot, near the start line. I ended up about a 150 feet from the start line. Also, since I didn’t have a crew, I needed my car to be close, since my trunk contained all my nutrition and gear.

The storms were gone, and the sun was coming up while I was getting my bike ready. During this time I saw Jim Hlavka - I rode with Jim this year in WI, on the 200K and 300K Brevets. Jim is a long time 24-hour rider, and just an outstanding rider, you would never know he’s 71. He has also done PBP.

I was already to go by around 7am. The start is at 8am, so I was just hanging around near the start line, watching other riders get ready. I happened to see Bryce Walsh, and talked to him for a bit. Bryce is one of those freaks of nature, I mean that in a good way. Meaning, he’s a hardcore ultra-cycling racer. He’s done RAAM, PBP, etc., etc. He was wearing his Vision Quest (VQ) kit, since he’s a part-time coach / trainer for VQ. I know Bryce, because I see him on the Brevets we do out of Delavan, WI. I also know him, because he coaches a friend of mine, Mike Geuss.

It’s getting closer to 8am, and even though this is not a sanctioned race, it certainly is not a recreational ride either, so I always get a little nervous, just a little mind you. But, that always goes away, as soon as the ride starts. Anyway, again, while waiting for the ride to start, this guy comes up to me, and says, “are you from IL?, is your name Rick?” Turns out he reads my Blog, and my ride report of the 2009 24-hour ride inspired him to try it. I thought that was pretty cool. His name is Richard, he’s 68, and is from Northern Michigan.


Ride Start

About 10 minutes before 8am, riders started to line up. I was near the front, and at 8am sharp, 352 riders from around the country and from four countries were off. There was the usual pace car out in front, and within minutes the front end of the peloton was snaking through the country roads, a beautiful sight. Soon the pace really picked up, 28 mph or so, and riders were making moves to find a group to ride with. As the A group pulled away, I was able to jump on the B group. Keep in mind the A and the B groups are rather small, I would guess the A group had about 30 riders, and about 20-25 in the B group. That means there are about 300 or so riders behind us, that I can no longer see.


First Loop (121.6 Miles)

This year I decided not to race the first loop. I was so fried last year, after finishing the the 121.6 miles, I had to rest for awhile, before heading out for the second loop, which cost me miles. So, after racing the first 71.5 miles, with the B group, I backed off and rode solo. Also, mile 71.5 is another control stop, and I had to use the bathroom, and the group doesn’t wait. Jim was also in the B group, as well as Al Muldoon, another long time 24-hour rider and a Brevet rider. The group averaged 21+ until the 71.5 mile control. One other thing, as we were getting closer towards the 71.5 mile control, we were picking up A group riders along the way.

As I was nearing the third control at mile 96.2, I see the pack of riders approaching behind, I said to myself, “where did they come from?” Once they came along side of me, one of the guys says, “Moooo ... I know you!” It was Keegan Greene. I met him last year at the 24-hour. I was wearing my Assos cow print jersey, hence the Moooo. It was a big hit at the 24-hour ride. Anyway, one of the guys said “jump on”, which was a nice little rest, even if it was only like two miles to the control.

When we arrived at the control, I took about a five minute break. It was pretty warm now that clouds had gone, and I needed to drink. I took off by myself, and got back to the school around 2pm I think. Though, about 10 miles out from the school another pack of riders were coming up behind me. It was one of those moments, when you realize where you’re at on the ladder of life or ability, in terms of cycling. Well it wasn’t the C group, if there was one, no it was the A group, what was left of it. They were on their first lap of the second loop. Of course Bryce was in the pack, I jumped on the back for a bit, but dropped off – only because I felt guilty for sucking their wheels.


Second Loop (23.7 Miles)

Before heading out for the second loop, I needed to eat and hydrate, so I went back to my car. I had all my stuff in coolers, including my Bag Balm. You need to keep that on ice, otherwise it turns into soup, in a hot trunk. (Speaking of Bag Balm, it’s just not for after along ride, I used it during the ride, before parts got sore, and things were much better than last year.) Last year, I was only able to do two laps, of loop two, this year I got in three. I would see riders who were still doing the first loop. On the third lap, I saw Richard, he was doing his first and only lap of loop two. You need to do one lap of loop two, in order to ride the night loop. Richard looked good, and was going for 200 miles, I’m sure he made his goal.

One last thing. While doing the second loop, I saw some A group guys who just blew up. One guy was holding this guys bike, while his friend was on the ground resting. Then another guy was on the side of road, bent over. He didn't look good either. Not sure how they did, meaning if they recovered enough to ride through the night.


Third Loop or Night Loop (5.5 Miles)

Before heading out on the night loop (around 8pm), I had to put on my lights. At 9pm, the lights went on, by around 9:30-10pm, it was very dark out. Since I like to wear a mirror, I popped my lenses out of my Rudy Project sunglasses, so I could see better. The night loop this year was shortened by two miles, due to road construction. All the corners of the night loop are blocked off by the police. Though, cars are still allowed on the roads, but hardly any at around 3am.

Some interesting things happened on the night loop this year. First, some people didn’t turn on their lights, and the police got after the event staff, which made them mad. Then, some riders were taking the right turns too wide, and again the police got after the event staff. Then as I was pulling into the control, a staff member was calling out rider numbers, apparently a group of racer boys, were doing something they shouldn’t have done, and they were disqualified. Stupid, all that effort wasted.

At around 2am, I was riding next to Paul Danhaus, another rider I know from doing the Brevets. Paul is also RAAM racer. He was riding a tandem, with a gal, not sure who she is. Anyway, fun to see folks that you know during the event. Paul’s crew chief was also a guy I know from the Brevets, though I’m sorry, I can’t remember his name.

The night loop is the most intense part of the 24-hour, and the most spectacular, with a never ending stream of lights. On the night loop you will see folks just riding at a pace they can maintain, and you’ll see some riders just screaming around the loop. Some riders will change out their wheel sets, to arrow wheels. One guy had a full disc wheel on his road bike. Others put on arrow helmets. Not sure if any of this helped them. Bryce had bolt on arrow bars, on his road bike. He was riding like the wind at around 4am. I would see Jim a lot on the course, and he would always say, “hey young man.”

I had some pretty ambitious goals this year, but I knew by midnight, there was no way to reach them. So, since I 304 last year, I had to at least do a little better this year. So once I reached 300+, around 5:15am I took a 15 minute break. Then headed back out for a few more laps. At around 6:35am, I was hitting the wall. Mostly due to my slacking off on my nutrition, and my left leg was starting to hurt. I should have pushed myself to do more laps, but it’s so easy to stop. I did make one goal, which was to ride until the sun was on my face. I’ve done that before, but not on this 24-hour ride, so I was happy about that.

Stats:

Day Miles: 192.7
Night Miles: 132
Total Miles: 324.7

Average: 16.6 mph (I need to get a better bike computer, or a Garmin.)
Time on the bike: about 19.58 hours (I didn’t realized my breaks added up to 2.5 hours. I quit at 6:40am, so I gave up some time there too.)

Average Grade: 1%
Max Grade: 8%
Elevation Gain: Roughly 6,000+
Miles riding without help from others: About 260 miles

Official N24 Stats:
Once again, overall rank was 35. Same as last year. I need to work harder next time. Though out of the 352 riders, that still puts me in the top 10%. And likewise in my age group, I'm also in the top 10. More to learn about ultra-cycling.



What I have learned

My goal was to ride 400 miles, and after doing this ride twice now, I know what it takes to do that. Besides the Brevets that I do, and all the centuries, I need to train harder. I need to be training like one does for PacTour Elite, or something close to it. My nutrition has improved since last year, but there’s still room for improvement. Next year is PBP, which I plan to do, and I would like to do the 24-hour again next year, I’ll see how things go, and if I really want to train that hard.