24 Hour Race

I returned to the race at oh-dark-thirty this morning where mostly all I could see was headlights and blinky red taillights. It was a cool morning and the racers were looking like they'd had a long, hard night. The ones showing the most wear and tear and yet still going strong were the solo riders. Around 9:00 am I asked one coming up Devil's Up what lap he was on. #17. He'd reach 255 miles at the completion of that lap and he may have had time for two more. That's insane, but in a good way.

 Praying to the Propane Heater God around 5:00 am.

 Waiting for his teammate to arrive.

 Gettin' some air.

 Single speed action.

 Some people wondered if the tandem riders took the roughest part of Devil's Down. Here's the answer.

Focus! Focus!

I rode my cross bike around the course again to take pictures, carefully watching for racers and staying out of their way. After leaving Devil's Down this morning I was zipping across Strawberry Fields Forever a little too fast. I caught a rock with my front tire and flatted. As you can see from the map, I couldn't have selected a point that was farther away. It was a long walk back to the camp.

I should do this race next year so now to look for a mountain bike....