24 Hours of Hanson Hills
(Grayling, MI)
I did this as a 4 person team with Tom Stoner, Bob Stoner, and Aaron Barto. We competed in the Veteran Mens category for the race in which there where 4 other teams. I have never done a 24 hour race before so I wasn't sure what I was in for.
The coarse was just a little over 10 miles long per lap made up mostly of single track with some good climbs thrown in. I used my full suspension Cannondale Scalpel 29er for the race, while everyone else on are team had hardtails.
We decided to switch riders after every lap and we had are order lined up, it was Aaron, Bob, me then Tom. The goal for us was to consistently turn in lap times under 1 hour each. In the beginning of the race Aaron and I average about 46 minute lap times and Tom and Bob around 49-50 minute lap times. My fastest was my 2nd time our with 44 minutes. I tried the next 2 times to beat that but I couldn't pull it off. We had approximately 3 hours of rest between lap times.
Between laps we would talk about our bikes, work on our bikes, eat, talk about life and just hang out. I was very relaxing and just a lot of fun. All of us got along really well and were very encouraging of each other. We kept tabs on the other teams in our group and for the first 6 hours we were all pretty close. In the 7th hour when the results were posted we were shown to be 1 lap up on the field.
We had an easy up and a tent set up. All of us had some type of air mattress and sleeping bag in the tent. The easy up had all of our other supplies that we needed.
As the night approached we got our lights on our bikes and put on a little more clothing than earlier in the day. At one point during the day I was able to wear a sleeve less jersey, but at night I was wearing long sleeves and a vest. I did one lap at about 9:30 pm but I was able to get away without really turning on my lights. I decided to lay down for a little nap after this lap, I remember being really cold, but I did fall asleep, in fact I couldn't believe that when I did wake up it was almost time for me to get on the bike again.
My first real night lap came at about 1:16 in the morning. I remember being cold, so I told Bob that I would probably stay out for 2 laps just to keep warm. As I came closer to finishing that lap I was thinking to myself that maybe doing 2 laps was not such a good idea. Well getting back to the staging area after that lap my relief person Tom was still asleep. Bob told me he didn't bother waking him because he though I was going to do 2 laps. No problem I just headed out and did the 2nd lap that I intended to do anyway.
After 20 hours we were still in first place by only 1 lap. We couldn't let up though because the team behind us wasn't letting up either. It looked like at one point the winner in our division was going to come down to who got the 30th lap in the quickest.
In the end we ended up squeezing in 31 laps for the win to edge out the 2nd place team with 30.
This race made my top 3 because it was so much fun, the camaraderie was incredible, the promoter, Fun Promotions did an excellent job (free breakfast in the morning and great swag), the coarse was fun, the Scalpel was just a hoot to ride on this coarse, the competition was great and we won!
Potato Creek XC by NIMBA
(North Liberty, IN)
This one made my list for a few reasons. I just love it when the family comes to my races and we spend time together. I also like the fact that my 16 year old daughter did this race too and she had a blast doing it.
Potato Creek is a State Park in Northern Indiana and it's pretty much all twisty flowing single track. For me the race was 4 laps and about 30 miles. I raced the Expert Men 40+ Category.
What made this race fun for me was the competition and how I kept by head in the race. I got caught in a group of 3 riders from the start of the race. Unfortunately we were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place riders and I was the fifth place one.
As we proceeded I could see the 1st and 2nd place guys pulling farther and farther ahead. The guy leading our pack of 3 was letting them get away. I was really getting antsy sitting there in 5th place with really no way to pass in the tight single track. The 4th place guy made an aggressive move and was able to get around the 3rd place guy. Me, I was not so lucky, I had to buy my time and my opportunity finally came... He fell in a turn and I was able to get around him.
This was short lived though as one of the turns for the coarse was not marked correctly and I went the wrong way, he followed me, but when we turned around he was now in front. Together we only lost about 20 seconds though. I was finally able to get around him again as he fell one more time.
I was now in 4th place and for the rest of the race I concentrated on putting more space between me and 5th place and hunting down the leaders.
I kept a good pace and worked hard for the all of the laps and towards the end of the 4th and final lap my persistence paid off. I caught the 3rd place rider and past him.
So, this race makes the cut because my family was there, the coarse again was just a lot of fun to ride, the promoter, NIMBA does an excellent job, and because it was my first podium finish as an Expert rider.
Iceman
(Traverse City, MI)
What can I say about the Iceman that I haven't already said (See My Iceman Post). This made the list because my family makes a mini-vacation out of it and we spend some really good time together. We stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City and we just have a really fun weekend.
I love this race for the good time we have together as a family and because of how well and how big this race is. It is just a blast to hit the trails with 4000 other mountain bikers.
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