Redux: 24 hours of Moab

“I’m never, ever, doing this again,” kept running through my head as I struggled to gear up for another sub-freezing, early morning lap. Our team wasn’t doing as well as we had hoped. Flats, wrecks, and cramps were keeping us out on course too long and moving us further away from the podium.

After a frigid lap in the desert, a hot shower is like heaven on earth. I didn’t want to leave. “Maybe next year I’ll just come and do 24 hours of shower”, I thought to myself. Seemed fitting with our team name. I finally got out, had some hot coffee and started feeling better about the race.

It started out brutally. the first 8 hours of racing (and the whole night before) we were besieged with tent-snapping winds and sand storms. Visibility was limited, and pedaling into the wind packed sand into your every crevice.

Around 10:00, a beautiful and clear desert night settled in and the winds dies down. The temperature dropped adding a new de-motivator, but at least we could stop worrying about camp blowing away.

At 11:58 Sunday morning, I found myself in the staging area wondering if my teammate was going to make it back before noon. In before noon, and I go out on another lap. 12:01 and I go back to bed. I felt about as terrible as I ever have, but at 11:59 I was actually hoping he made in on time. I was still “never doing this again”, but I wanted to finish strong.

11:59 handoff

Somehow on that last lap I started feeling better. I even started feeling pretty good. Maybe I was just ready for the whole thing to be over, but I was riding as well as ever have.  It’s funny how a teams discussion can go from “never doing this again”, to “next year” on the drive home. So, looks like Outdoorzy’s MMSS will be back in action once again. Look for us “next year” on that Men’s Expert podium. 

Hey you, with the mountain bike. Come and be a part of this race! At least once. This is an event to behold and the most fun you’ll ever have suffering through a weekend.  

3 comments October 15th, 2008