GG24

2a, there isn't a hint of moon, starlight on the fireroads, which isn't much, HID casting a long and wide beam, legs pump and churn, out of the saddle on the climbs, on the technical singletrack aim for the middle, the full suspension line, my steel IF hardtail bucking, a flying ghost to the solo riders, many of them deep into their suffering, when will morning come?, the night air refreshing and invigorating, the competition stiff, chasing, can i pull our team a minute or two closer?, john foley somewhere in front, is he standing on the climbs?, did he dab on that pile of off-camber roots as i just did?, got to get it flowing, past a group of racers who've pulled over to let me by up the narrow rocky climb, back onto the fireroad, see the 6m sign, 2.25m to go, push, push, then flying down a well-laid ribbon of moist dirt on the fireroad, "a luge track" as foley calls it, see the entrance to final technical singletrack, stay in middle ring, have to bang this one out, push, push, steep and technical here, "ahhhgggg", in pants, "rider, rider!" to the those pushing their bikes, across the ridge and down hard to the left into a steep overworn descent, out into a massive stand of birch where even at this hr a few spectators clap and whistle, back into the trees, quickly through last piece of flowing singletrack, out into the field, through the skills course, let a little air rip on a burm, through it and mash around the pond, this sprint is always a cpl hundred ft longer than i remember, the bright lights of the tent almost blinding, there's greg, hand-out for the baton, he seems unhurried, but once on the course he is nothing short of a tazmanian devil.

finishing loop
morning
andy


greg

thom and greg, waiting for andy to finish-up
all done
harry takes it! 1st 19-39 soloist, 2nd out of 55 solo competitors, he's cooked! sweet, nice job h-bomb, you the man, fought through bad lights, off the bike for over an hr working it out, fights back for the win!
jason achlich works it out on the ss, winning the ss solo class! nice one dude.
me, harrry and andy, after 24hrs of racin'
igleheart having a laugh
our splits, nice and steady, minus a night-lap issue w/bad lights, everyone did their part, rode as hard as they could, we all had a bad lap or two, but fought back to kill it... and have to mention thom's efforts on his SS - unbelievable!

but it wasn't quite enough for the win! taking 2nd overall to chris, matt, john and... can't remember his name. they took a cpl minute lead early in the night and never gave it up, nice racin' fellas, no mistakes from their camp. thanks andy, thom, and greg for a great one. that was by far the "easiest" 24hr race i've done - it's all about the company! you guys are the shit. thanks to igleheart for dinner and the support, like the use of his lights, w/o'em we'd have been effed. thnks to mike precourt for being the man. miriam, if you read this silliness, get well, heal-up quick and let's ride!