It will take a while to get the dust out of everything, and my legs still cramp when I make the wrong move, but I had a total BLAST at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo event this weekend.

Overall I think EpicRides did a very good job of putting on the event, which seemed to have MANY more participants than last year, and it was a big improvement that they had the ongoing results for each Category posted at the Transition Tent so we could watch our progress (or lack of progress).

This isn’t necessarily a complaint, but this year there were many camps set up right beside the single track partway between the High Point and the Slick Rock, and when I came through that area on my first lap, which was at night, I was VERY confused about where the trail went, and careened off into the bottom of that nasty little wash with the sharp right turn.

Anyway, I love the atmosphere at this event, and was pleased to see such a huge turn-out. My corporate team, BORG, ultimately worked our way up to a 5th Place finish, which was fun and rewarding. We had a couple of lighting issues at night, but otherwise escaped any significant mechanical problems (we had several last year), and our team had great chemistry and lots of fun working together.

I would love to hear about the experiences of other Arizona Forum contributors.

John W.

The best yet. I'll try to post more later, but I think this was the best event by far, so far (this was my 4th 24 HOP). I originally liked the new singletrack (it was *really* fun on lap one, as a train of bikers delicately moved around some of those sandy turns), but my fears were met when I tried to pull a two-lapper at 9 p.m.--and finish with 4 laps before midnight--as fatigue and a failing light proved to be my downfall as I slowly worked my up to more familiar terrain. Needless to say, I was wishing they would have left the powerline road in. Getting passed by a female solo rider (not that there is anything wrong with that :-) was a clue to me that maybe I hadn't trained enough (or had too many beers the night before).

Anyway, I liked having the campsites right on the course. Yes, at night it was a bit difficult to find the trail, but it was hell fun to bomb through camp to the clang of cow bells, and the whoop of those not on the course. (I can't remember, but were the campspots off the course last year?) We were a street south of the solo area, and it was a blast watching the support crew for Cam (I don't know his last name), who dethroned Tinker this year. To see 6 people surround one racer as if he was a stock car, was awesome.

A classic!

Just kidding - I wasn't even there; I was in a warm bed sleeping off some real nice 1994 Spottswood Cabernet Sauvignon.

How are you feeling today?

What a bunch of BS. She told me she'd give me the opportunity to pay her off NOT to show this. She's in big, big trouble.

To be honest, this weekend is the most sleep I've gotten at a 24 hr race. (My teammate and I bascailly took the evening off; I think I got close to 5 hrs sleep.) Huge mistake trying to do do my 3rd and fourth laps with zero sleep, a gel and a handfull of Cheez Its, an unlubed chain, and a more than half dead light battery. Needless to say, after pulling in close to midnight, I could have slept on a Cholla.

Well this my first 24 hour race and I have to say it was a blast. I rode on a corporate team with some people from DNA Cycles in Mesa. We were originally supposed to have 8 people on our team, but we ended up with 6 so I got to turn in 3 laps. Unfortunately I was the last of the 6 person team so I had a 9 pm lap and a 3am lap as my first two. I definitely had to get comfortable with the night laps, but then I got to do another lap at about 10am the next morning. That was quite a bit faster.

The course was great, and I loved the new single track even though that climb seemed to go on forever on my singlespeed, it was really painful, I was always stoked to see the cross at the top of the hill.

I also got a bit lost in the solo pits area but It was sweet to have everyone cheering you on.

All in all it was a great event that I am sure I will do again.

This was my first MTB race and 24 Hour Event, so I cannot compare to other venues, but Epic Rides did an awesome job putting together an event!!

Great vendors, showers, crowd, riders, and race! The Epic staff and volunteers were extremely helpful and pleasant. All the bike shops making their presence were awesome (my special thanks to the crew at "Tommy O Bikes" in Phx for the BB lube).

Random Thoughts:
* On my 1am lap I encountered a rider with a broken collar bone after a endo in a sandy wash a few miles prior to the second parking lot.
* I counted 8 dead rats and 1 bloated gopher on my 4am lap.
* I enjoyed having the tents and people near the end of the lap, they were always out yelling and ringing cow bells for night laps.
* Bummer about the rider who was airlifted to Tuscon 2 hours from the finish. I heard he broke 3 ribs and maybe more...hope he is OK.
* The coffee vendor was my saviour, although I may have been too 'jacked up' by my last lap.
* Wish I could have met more MTBRers.

Later,
Steven

I need to find out the official 5 person Co-ed standings as I was wiped out after 4 or 6 post ride beers. My "Team Futzenfall" placed somewhere around 35th with 14 laps under our belt. It was my team's first MTB race and 24 hour event. We had fun and accomplished our goal with no problems...only fun!

By chance, does anyone have a link to the final results web posting? Thanks!

Steve

As you can probably tell by my writing, I am not completely hydrated and recovered from this weekend.

http://www.epicrides.com/results2003/results.htm

http://www.epicrides.com/results2003/results.htm
I don't think the official results have been posted yet, this link is to last years results.

Dirt Therapy (prev. Peaze My Squeenis), made a big improvement over last year. We barely did 12 laps last year, this year we turned 16 and if not for a couple of errors we couldve done 17. This was our third race and we made lots of changes from the first time. Had an RV this year, had proper clothing, proper food and recovery drinks. All made a big difference. Loved the new singletrack at first, but soon grew to not looking forward to it. No room to pass, very windy.Still looking forward to going out again next year. Will try to bring friends to volunteer for the event.
Dodi

Way! No Way! The excellent adventure aside I had a great time 1st 24 hour and 3rd epic rides ride. We had a good diverse group (5 coed, tope y las tortugas). went in on thu and rode the course the 1st time and at night. hung out and watched the parade and drank beer fri. 1st lap at 2:30 - fast lap and fun, the cute girls on single speeds provided the proper motivation. 2nd lap at 10pm - the most fun lap, towed a soloist in the last climb and downhill who lost his light, lap just went by fast as could be. 3rd lap at 6am - pretty hard to get up for but once i was up no prob. got to watch the sun come up and count the dead rodents (lots). The drivetrain kinda tooka dump the last two laps which sucked but i coulda been worse. I really likes the last downhill - all that twisty single track makes for an awesome end to a lap. The tiki lights at night were great. Did you see the guy riding a ss with old school vans? Already looking forward to next year.

Way! No Way! The excellent adventure aside I had a great time 1st 24 hour and 3rd epic rides ride. We had a good diverse group (5 coed, tope y las tortugas). went in on thu and rode the course the 1st time and at night. hung out and watched the parade and drank beer fri. 1st lap at 2:30 - fast lap and fun, the cute girls on single speeds provided the proper motivation. 2nd lap at 10pm - the most fun lap, towed a soloist in the last climb and downhill who lost his light, lap just went by fast as could be. 3rd lap at 6am - pretty hard to get up for but once i was up no prob. got to watch the sun come up and count the dead rodents (lots). The drivetrain kinda tooka dump the last two laps which sucked but i coulda been worse. I really likes the last downhill - all that twisty single track makes for an awesome end to a lap. The tiki lights at night were great. Did you see the guy riding a ss with old school vans? Already looking forward to next year.

The guy with old school vans was Alex. Same old school vans that he rode last year to a 2nd place SS Solo in the Old Pueblo. Same old school vans that he rides when he races that same SS fully rigid downhill. Best thing about the guy is that it is a blast to ride with him.

I thought the event was a total blast. Epic Rides put on a great show -- the event was very well organized and very well executed. This is only my second 24 Hour MTB race and I will definitely be back for more. My first race was last year's McDowell race in April.

My team was Team Bonk - a 4-man group. We had 2 sick people on the team so we weren't out to set any speed records. We put in a total of 14 laps with a 4-hour break in the middle of the night. So we could have done 17 or 18 laps had we pushed ouselves, but then some of my teammates would have probably been miserable.

I had the unfortunate luck of running in the lemans start. The number of people was intimidating - I thought I was going to be trampled. But I am a pretty fast runner so I was probably one of the first 20-30 people to get on their bike. But as I pedaled like crazy through the course on that first lap just trying to keep myself from holding everybody else up. I still got passed by a lot of people (people who obviously aren't great runners but can bike like hell). But all of those fast riders on my tail really pushed me to finish strong. With the run I came in at just over an hour for the first lap.

My midnight lap was my favorite lap. I borrowed my friend's HID and it made all the difference in the world. This is a fun track in the day and even more fun at night. The windy single-track through the cactus garden was a wild experience with the HID. I didn't slow down at all from my daytime pace and nearly killed myself on a few of the tighter parts of the course.

My average lap time was around 1:10 or so. My night lap was 1:18. I rode 4 official laps and a final lap just for the fun of it.

The temps were a little chilly at night but I was comfortably dressed and didn't feel the cold at all. The breeze blew on and off throughout the 24 hours - at first it bothered me but then I came to appreciate it when the course got dusty.

Towards the end of the course was the nice rocky outcrop that you could shoot down. The area had a lot of spectators and my wife snapped a few photos of me at different times. One has be coming down in the AM and the one of my backside is my last lap on Sunday.

I will definitely attent next year's race.

Thx...Doug

Here are a few pics before my camara battery died...

of the team and such

It was DUSTY, I'm still sneezing out mud, but it was fun despite the dust.

There weren't many campsites left on Friday morning, but we managed to find one large enough for our teams (14 riders total).

The transition tent was total mayhem at the end of the first lap, but they managed to work out the bugs and do a great job. I personally never noticed the standings in the transition area, but I was never worried about what anyone else was doing.

The tents and campers along the last section were a nice distraction, I really enjoyed all the words of encouragement, Thanks to all of you.

I managed to ride 4 uneventful laps (that's good) no flats, no mechanical problems and NO CRASHES. I had the pleasure of having Tinker follow me up a short climb after the first two sections of single track on Sunday morning, we exchanged pleasantries and he was off, what an amazing rider.

This was my first 24hr race and I am looking forward to next year, congratulations to everyone who participated, weather you rode 1 lap or 20, and a get well soon to those of you who had the misfortune of meeting the desert up close and personal

Where did you guys camp? We were on Athletic Octane (?), and seldom ventured outside our camp area (since we were so damn far from the Expo area.

Where did you guys camp? We were on Athletic Octane (?), and seldom ventured outside our camp area (since we were so damn far from the Expo area.

We were the 1st campsite on the north side of Epic Rides Blvd behind the porta potties. Was a great site, close to the expo but not too close and we got to watch eveyone come in and got coated with tons of dust. I met Lake Raven and Velez but didn't run into anyone else. I think next year we are going to try to get on the final signetrack to up our entertainment level

Huh? Are you trying to tell me that "behind the porta potties" is a good thing :-)?

We had a real nice view of the singletrack. We were a bit elevated (my tent was actually on the highest point on the backside of the camping area), so we could see all the riders coming in. No dust, but lost of cholla.

Huh? Are you trying to tell me that "behind the porta potties" is a good thing :-)?

We had a real nice view of the singletrack. We were a bit elevated (my tent was actually on the highest point on the backside of the camping area), so we could see all the riders coming in. No dust, but lost of cholla.

Actually given my food and drink intake it was good to be close and the rocks actually blocked that scenic view and the wind and the cold kept the smells away...i think everyone had fun with cholla....my friends were routinely pulling pads out of their dogs ..

What a freakin' BLAST!

I had the great honor and pleasure to be with the mostly-Phoenix RideAZ group (did I get that right?). *GREAT* support and comraderie... It was great to be with a group that had obviously done this before!

The weather, I thought, was SUPERB! Friday night was a bit chilly, but with a good fire, good jacket, and home brew... well, it could have been a LOT worse. Saturday/Sunday my *only* complaint was the bit of wind we had (to feel like you *have* to pedal down hill is a bummer!).

No serious problems (oh, a couple flats and usual stuff, but nothing to complain about). Being anchor on a 5-person team, my first lap was run at dusk, and I had a hard time getting into the "groove". Too much relaxation time all day. But then my next lap came at 1:30, and pulled a respectable 1:18. I didn't realize the magnitude of that until I ran my last morning lap at 9:00ish - we were crunching to get back so one more rider could get out before noon (for a 17th lap), and with that adrenaline push, I came in only a minute faster. Unfortunately, our last rider came in at 12:03... leaving us all wondering what we each could have done to shave off that time - but the best part is that no body was pointing fingers - we were all happy with 22nd... maybe next year???

I was amazed with the number of dead rats, gophers, mice, etc... and laughed pretty heartedly at the turn from the reflector trail (just before the corral) where someone had stopped to stack two, one on top of the other. What a way to go. ;-)

My most treasured moment was the first shower I took... it was better than anything else I could have imagined!!! HOT water! Kudos to Todd/Brad for having them there.

Again - great weekend.

BTW - I'm "leading" a Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists' club "ride" out at the course this weekend. the intent is to run a lap picking up trash (gel packs, tubes, etc.). It's a constant struggle to keep access to trails, and keeping the surroundings clean is a definite help. Hope anyone in the Tucson area can make it (9am at the Willow Springs Arch).

Hank

Good on you... I was a bit discouraged by the number of packets I saw on the trail, especially as you turned left on the fireroad after the last of the first singletrack after the *****es.

I, unfortunately, was wearing a vest without any pockets, so I stuck my used packet up the leg of my riding shorts. Needless to say I forgot about it and three laps later--after finally changing shorts--I practically had to pry the thing off.

http://www.epicrides.com/results2004/index.html

Best 24 Hr event I've raced at or attended. The spirt of the place is fantastic. I'm still grinning ear to ear.

I've posted my team's results and a few pics on the singlespeed forum:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=5923

from da race

***************

***************
i swear...

Great pics and great stories from everyone! I passed Futzenfall 20 times and wish that I had remembered you were AZ forum folks. Maybe by next year I will know some of you and will have ridden with you.

Last year I rode three laps and the third one nearly killed me. I bonked so bad at the beginning of the old power line jeep trail that I was in granny gear the next four miles.

This year my third lap was our last (18th) and I felt SO GOOD! I had passed through the coral with the double gate and ridden the very fast straight mile immediately after that as well as I ever have. I turned the sharp left (east) to continue the windy single-track through the chollas and felt like I was FLYING. As I hit a short straight stretch a rider with a number plate (I won't say which number) was coming down the track in the wrong direction, apparently looking for a stranded buddy. Since he was looking straight at me I assumed he would get off the course, but just as I roared by he stopped (in the outer third of the single-track to ask if I had just passed a guy with a flat tire. Before I could even react I clipped his handlebar and went from 18mph to Zero in about ten feet!

I used some language that I thought I had left behind years ago, and the guy simply said "I wasn't on the trail!".

In the heat of the moment it didn't seem worthwhile to stop and point out that if I was in the middle of the trail and hit him, then he HAD TO BE ON THE TRAIL! I jumped back on and tried to use the pain and anger to constructively distract me from how my back was beginning to ache.

Ironically, I had debated leaving my body armor off since I have ridden that course dozens of times without crashing, but thought better of it in the end, and am reasonably sure I would not have finished that lap if I had ridden "naked".

I stopped twice more to put air in a slowly flattening rear tire, and still rode the fastest of my three laps... so it's ALL GOOD!

I passed Futzenfall 20 times and wish that I had remembered you were AZ forum folks.

Hey Papajohn, did you pass us 20 times on the trail or at the campsite? (haha!)

I want to meet more MTBRers at the next event. Maybe I will see you at the 24 Hour race in the McDowells this fall...Great job!!!

Steve

This was my fourth 24 HOP and my first solo effort, and it was without a doubt the best ever!! I can't say I rode as many laps as I wanted, but I rode more laps/miles than ever before, so I have absolutely no complaints.
The other riders this year were the the best ever--as a so-slow-ist, I seemed to be out there just for EVERYONE else to pass, and even though everyone has always been polite and friendly, I was really amazed at how many positive comments I got as people rode by ("Right on, solo", "solo riders rule" etc). Obviously some folks were racing (as in riding hard to win), but I didn't notice anyone who acted like waiting a few feet for a pass was a problem. What a great bunch of folks you all were to ride with!!!
I promised Todd that I'd just volunteer for next year (and I will), but this ride is just such a great time that I can't wait til I get out and ride again (another solo effort--maybe I can get another lap or 4 in). Speaking of Todd and Epic Rides, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to prevent the littering you all saw out there (the gel packs, not the dead critters)? Wurensh has a ride scheduled for this weekend to try to clean things up, but if anyone can come up with any way to reduce the necessity, it would be a great help.

Trash-cans on the course maybe?

Perfect idea. Obviously, his threat to DQ anybody caught stealing for littering didn't deter any. If you put a trashcan at the Fireroad that headed S (about 7-8 miles in)--this seemed to be where the majority for the trash was--that would solve some of the problem.

Some people just don't get it and don't care. Forget a/b a DQ if you get caught - make em eat one of those pack rat pancakes - tar tar style chased with some slime or triflo. Maybe just having a volunteer or two out on the course during the race to healp clean-up and catch the spoilers

Some people just don't get it and don't care. Forget a/b a DQ if you get caught - make em eat one of those pack rat pancakes - tar tar style chased with some slime or triflo. Maybe just having a volunteer or two out on the course during the race to healp clean-up and catch the spoilers

I'm thinking oil drums cut in half - nice big target for the non (W)NBA affiliated riders :)

Yep, I did a Adrenaline race in Cali, and about 5 miles into the 10 mile course (lap times were about an hour), they had a support stand with gatorade. They had a box for you to throw your cups, but you'd be surprised how many you found littered on the course, even 10 feet from the box.

First, I was like, "who the hell needs somebody giving them water 30 minutes into a loop," but second, I was pissed that they were incosiderate enough to just throw the cups on the course, considering those out there giving (and cleaning up) were volunteers.

make em eat one of those pack rat pancakes

But serving Pack Rat Pancakes as punishment could create other problems. For example, what if the guilty litter bug once again does not properly dispose of the fur wrapping? What if the guilty Litter Bug is inadvertantly given a performance advantage with a high ratio of maltodextrin complex carbs and/or high glucose levels?

Food for thought, so to speak.

How about a Prickley Pear sandwich then. Maybe a Cholla between two Prickely Pear pads? Or maybe some Javalina ****?

How about a Prickley Pear sandwich then. Maybe a Cholla between two Prickely Pear pads? Or maybe some Javalina ****?

How about they have to take a big whiff of every chamois (sp?) that leaves the transition tent - now there is a serious pentaly! Eh Peppe?

How about they have to take a big whiff of every chamois (sp?) that leaves the transition tent - now there is a serious pentaly! Eh Peppe?


yeuch - I can feel my bean enchiladas nudging my larynx thinking about this (not that I know PEppe)