Mtbr.com Blogs - Bandit's Tales

Like I've done in the past I'll write this in parts as Finn could be up any time now.

I'll cut right to the chase, as most of you know we ended up 8th. Not where I hoped to be when the race started, but that's racing, right? The plan was to not worry about where the competition was, it was to break out 19 laps, one better than last year. We needed to shave off about two to three minutes per lap to do this. as the standing show this could have got us to the podium, another goal of ours.

I was feeling pretty good and despite some little things that kept popping up, like me loosing my timing card, we were on track to reach our goal through the first day and into the first part of the night. Then we ran into a little trouble. I won't go into to much detail but I broke a valve stem and a chain which lead to some running and waiting for a new bike at Red Bud. Luck for me one of the first people I run into after my misfortune was Terry. She said she would let my pit know what was going on so there would be a bike ready for my when I got to Red Bud. This meant I would only need to run a couple of miles instead of five or six.

After a nearly 2 hour lap we were still on track for 19. My next lap I felt good. Toward the end of lap 14 I was starting to feel the effects of the race and by the time I was going out for lap 16 it was clear we weren't going to make 19 so 18 was the goal, and anything less would be a big disappointment. At 9:20 I came in finishing 17 getting ready to go for 18 and watching Chris win with 21. The last lap was hard and ugly but in the end I'm glad I went out. I couldn't let my crew down, we raced hard and we need to do at least as good as last year.

Last year I did the whole race on two hard tail Siren 55's. This year I was grateful for my Siren Song. This bike is prefect for this course and so many like it in the midwest. It smoothed out the rocks and roots especially as the race went on. It always felt fast out of the saddle. In a 24 hour race I like to mix it up between standing and sitting and the Song lets me do this without the spongy feeling you can get on some suspension bikes. I only rode my hard tail on the first lap and when I needed to do a bike exchange at Red Bud. I could not have been happier with my choice to go with the Song for the rest of the race.

I can't say thank you enough to the extended group of people that help us to do well at these races. From Terry and her kindness out on the course to Bonnie Shannon and Becky for pitting for me for nearly all the 24's I do throughout the year. From Connie taking care of Finn when the sun went down, to all of those of you who watched on line and kept the good thoughts coming our way. Help and support comes in so many different ways and I'm grateful for all I can get. And last but on least...Thank you Siren Bicycles for building great frames, with cutting edge designs. We can't be competitive without top knotch equipment. And the brains behind Siren Brendan for being so generous with his knowledge of bikes and racing. I can't wait to see what the future holds!

For those who raced, recover fast, and for everyone lese, ride on!

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