Minuteman Road Club

I'm too brain-dead to do any work today, so I might as well write a race report. Me, Chris Pare, Bill Turner and Rob Follansbee teamed up as an Expert team for my second 24 HOGG. With only 6 Expert teams signed up and all of us in peak condition right now, we had pretty high expectations. We sent Rob off for the first lap, since he actually runs sometimes, and he didn't disappoint; He was 5th onto the bikes and finished the lap in the top 10. From that point forward, we put in lap after lap of uber-consistent times. As a team, from noon until 4AM, our fastest lap was 40:06 and our slowest was 45:42. By dawn, we had already lapped the second place Expert team and were sitting second of all teams with a 15-20 minute lead over 3rd. The Pro team of Colin Reuter, Kevin Sweeney, Mike Wissell and Greg Whitney had a commanding lead in the overall with each of their first 12 laps sub-40 minutes. Obviously out of our league.

As the sun rose, we started doing some more conservative lap times; with nothing to really race for, we kinda went into survival mode. We started watching the clock, calculating lap times and trying to do just enough to stay in 2nd overall. We knew that we'd get 8 laps each, with enough time for someone to get 9, but the question was "Will we need 33 laps?"

Our competion in the overall was Mason Racing, a 5 person Co-ed team. Their female racer put down the fastest female lap at 42:30, which is pretty damn fast. (For some perspective, Chris Pare's fastest lap was only 10 seconds better at 42:30...and he's also damn fast!) At 10:32AM, they started their 31st lap. If they could get two laps in at sub-44 minutes each, they could get a rider on course for a 33rd lap before the noon cutoff...forcing us to do a 33rd lap for "the win". We had a 20 minute lead on them, but that meant nothing if they did an extra lap. At 11:15, their rider finished a 43:29 lap. Another of their faster riders went out with just under 45 minutes to get it done. Coincidently at the same time, it started pouring rain.

We had already decided that I would do the 33rd lap, if it was necessary. The others were all cooked, and I felt like I could do it...although I didn't really want to. We debated back & forth whether it was necessary, whether their rider could do a 44 minute lap in the rain, and whether we cared about the prizeless "victory" of 2nd overall. A little later, it stopped raining and I decided that I cared enough, so I geared up and headed out. We gave up a few minutes in our hesitation, but I still had a 15 minute lead over their rider if they sent someone out for a 33rd lap. So I didn't have to go fast, I just had to do a "comfortable" lap. It turned out that he didn't finish before noon, so our 33rd lap was unnecessary. It didn't matter though, cuz I enjoyed one more lap around the course. (Not really...)

Bill Turner deserves a shout-out for throwing down the most consistent and fastest laps for a non-pro "mortal". He started with a 40:19, followed that with a 40:06 (the fastest on our team), 41:38, 42:47 (the fastest night lap on our team!). At 1AM, he shut it down a little and did a 44:17, 44:38 then a 43:38 at 8AM. Things must have really went to hell on his final lap though, as he only did a 45:49.

Chris Pare showed up at the scoring tent for his very first lap...with a broken frame. His GF Sugar was broken clean though at a weld on the seat tube. He did the entire race on a bike that didn't really fit him (Jorge's BMC). Despite the ill-fitting bike, he still managed to beat the fastest female lap time by 10 seconds.

Rob & I both flatted (me twice) making our lap times look a lot less consisent, but the whole team basically threw down for 24 hours. We all answered the bell when it was our turn, and we kicked butt.

As usual, the best part of the race though was the camping with the other MRC team, and just the general banter and conversation around the campfire. A whole weekend with bikes, and people who love them. Basically a man-cation, with a bike race for entertainment.

Congrats guys, great win, and also to the other MRC team for continually moving up the standings. After Russ posted the live link I followed throughout most of the race, except the wee hours of course. The funny thing is looking at the times you formulate stories in your head about what is happening, and I too was doing the calculations, and when I saw a 6 minute hesitation on OGD's last lap start, I knew what you were thinking. Although you ended up not needing it, the Mason team only missed the cutoff by 2 minutes, I'd say you made the right decision.

One question, was there really 1000 ft of climbing per lap? I'd really like to get on a team next year, despite having an inclination of how hard this must be.

Agreed - great job all around. And especially the Hoggs who really threw down to get into the top 10 in their category.

Doug deserves all the credit for having the desire to ensure our 2nd place overall. (And honestly that seems more important now than the win in the expert class since the overall competition was more of a race - kudos Doug). I couldn't have ridden another lap unless my life depended on it. I could barely get out of the car when I got home my back was so bad. I still feel like a tranquilized elephant here at work since it took 2 muscle relaxers and a beer to knock me out...at 6pm. Slept until 8 am this morning and only got up since I was woken up by the kids. Sleep never felt better.

Overall thoughts:
- I have no idea how Bill rode all those laps on a fully rigid Scandium hardtail. That was a man-sized effort. And his "slow" lap was when he had to get off his bike due to the rain. WOW.
- And as Doug mentioned, Chris did his whole race on someone else's bike with no bitching
- No idea how the course always seemed so empty with all those teams there
- I now have a pure hatred for 3-tiered climbs and newly cut singletrack
- Nick and jay were good entertainment to keep the mood light
- How did the Hoggs do so many laps and seem like someone (or 2) was always sleeping for hours?
- By far the most mellow 24 team I've ever been on. No hissy fits at all or late-night crampiness
- Always a blast to hang with guys who love bikes and have lives outside of them to talk about. Off the bike is usually more important at a 24 than the race.

Now no one mention this race until next year please...

what happened when you flatted? Ride through it or change it? It doesn't sound like a gnome was going to pop out of the forest with a new wheel.

Kudos to both teams! I was trying to imagine the delirium every time I checked the standings Sunday morning.

I'll write up tomorrow, but to answer Jeremy's question, I think 1000 ft/lap is overstated, but 2 years running my Garmin has said around 800 ft/lap. There's quite a bit of punchy stuff in there, as well as 4 main sections that make you think...

...including the triple-decker of hell that Rob referred to above. The other climbing sections that I abhorred going into each lap: Blueberry hill, the fresh cut trail at mile 4.3, and the fresh-cut final trail leading to The Plunge.

It was all ridable, though...after listening in on the secrets of Chris and Rob.

Can't add much, but here's my input....

-- Huge shout out to Jorge, my 24 HOGG (and Doug's, Rob's, and Bill's) would have been over before it started without Jorge loaning me his bike.
-- I'm sure glad the frame broke 5 minutes before my start time rather than 5 minutes after my start time
-- Advice -- don't switch to a new saddle before doing a 24 hour race, some parts need time to adapt ('nuff said)
-- After my first lap on Jorge's bike:
Me: Jorge, why is that suspension so stiff?
Jorge: Did you have the suspension locked out?
Me: Oops. (the ride quality of a rigid with the weight of a full suspension rig, good times!)
-- In hindsight I think I preferred this years course over last years, which is strange since it was way less technical and usually I'm the other way around.
-- It may only be 800 feet per lap, but is sure feels like 1000
-- I can't look at a bike right now. Or climb stairs. Or sit. The memory of a 24 hour race is like a fine wine, it gets better with age. Right now, not so much...
-- Stepped on my bathroom scale this morning. 7 pounds less than Friday AM.
-- Having the whole crew there (2 MRC teams plus Todd's friends) made for a very enjoyable weekend.
-- I think Bill has one of those Cancellara motors in his seat tube. Way fast and way smooth.
-- Props to Doug for doing the "security lap".

I’m with Doug, even after a solid 8 hours of sleep last night I was still wiped out today.

Earlier this year my wife over heard Doug, Rob and myself discussing my new MTB purchase. In the conversation I stated my new Niner was a 24HOGG weapon. Shortly after the discussion my wife pulled me aside and questioned why I bought a bike specifically just for one race. When I finally got home last night, which is a feet in itself after a night without sleep, she said she kept a steady eye on the online results and was very proud of my teammates and me. For this I thank Doug, Chris and Rob F. for not making me look like a fool.

As for the race itself:

The more the merrier. The steady stream of visitors to the MRC compound just added to the adventure.

Riding at night is fun for the first lap but by the fourth time out I was begging for daylight. I want to thank Carl Shimer for lending me his excellent set of lights that got me through the darkness.

Toward the end of my 7th lap my arms finally gave up and just let go of the bars sending me to the dirt making me rethink the whole rigid thing.

Rob B. of “Boss Hogs Revenge” no longer giggles at the strategizing done by “have MeRCy”. I even found him looking at lap times and calculating if a top10 was possible. Congrats to Matt, Jorge, Todd and Rob on a fine finish.

I enjoyed the fireside cameo appearance by Mike Lowery.

Why did it rain on my last lap?

Next year can we rent a rock star bus with driver? That ride home just s*cks.

Nice work everyone.

Question: The expert team that took second had an extra set of legs? I thought that was one of the criteria that defined the categories. 4 man vs 5 man. Co-ed vs all male. Expert vs sport ...

Who was the chick that ripped it up for them anyway? Was she a pro?

The team Doug mentioned was the 5 person Open team. When talking about "2nd" it was related to the overall competition (most laps by any team overall). There was an additional cash prize for most laps but we were looking at it as a virtual podium of 2nd place in the most laps competition since we knew we were in good shape for the Expert title by nightfall (assuming no bad luck). No idea who the woman was but she was fast.

Awesome job Have MRC'ery. Wish I was there with you but it sounds like you didn't me anyway, I had to go a do this Leadville thing, see separate race report.

Amazing weekend!!!
it hurt like hell, but we had so much fun, it eased the pain. the MRC compound kicked ass.

I will be back next year... better prepared, i hope.

rob

You guys sure make MRC look good.

Funny comment from Colin R's race report:

"The MRC expert team kept it TIGHT and pulled off second overall, which seemed pretty damn good to me for a bunch of old guys that I never see at mountain bike races. Wait, was that backhanded compliment? I dunno. They were movin'."

pace21 wrote: -- Huge shout out to Jorge, my 24 HOGG (and Doug's, Rob's, and Bill's) would have been over before it started without Jorge loaning me his bike.
--

It was my pleasure letting you ride the bike... I hugely enjoy how together you kept it all night, and how you never second-guessed your choice: took it,, tweaked it, rode it... great job to all you guys!