Cycling: 24hr Summer Solstice

Friday, June 30, 2006 - 05:00 AM

24hrs of Summer Solstice.


Entry Fee $ 110
New tires, helmet, light $ 175
Supplies of food and beer $ 75
Scars, scrapes and injuries 7
# of laps completed 5
Hours slept in my car 3.5
Number of days to recover 3
Visits to on-site mechanic 2
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How many friends will I share my story with
about this great weekend….priceless!

(((This photo was taken after the race, which is why we're so happy! Our fearless organizer and leader, Wayne Floriani, is at the back left, standing (white shirt, sunglasses), while I am of course one of the guys holding a sticker (again, white shirt). Steve "the madman" Jones is the last man on planet earth with a mustache!)))



My streak of getting at least one non-running event under my belt ended abruptly after the Uxbridge Ice Breaker in late March, if you read the race report you might know why. I was also distracted with turning 40 and wanting to get fit fast for some running races, but after this past weekend I think I really have the bike bug for real.

Last year, 2005, I attended the Hot August Nights (24hr weekend #2) to watch the action from the sidelines, setting up my display and then returning Sunday to catch the finale. Wow I thought, this would be neat to do in person.

Fast forward to last week, a meeting with a client (Rod from Can Fit Pro - Tuesday), my big birth-day the next day (June 21st), and after the usual business formalities in my line of work (So, what are you doing this weekend...) I find out that Rod is entering the Solo Division of the 24hr Summer Solstice, Chico Racing's Signature Mountain Biking event up at Albion Hills. Another reminder that I should be doing this, and Rod mentions that you can go on-line and find a 4-5 person team looking for a last-minute addition, due to injuries and cancellations.

Within minutes of getting back to my office, I am copying and emailing a dozen contacts and checking to see if I can wrangle my way onto a team, which I figure is too late. Much to my surprise, there are several to choose from, so I pick what I believe to be is the "most fun" team...(: Quadzilla, now there is a name I won't forget, just saying it makes me feel fast! Turns out there were two teams, Quadzilla #1 and #2, and I was to join their co-ed team (nice), and within hours of officially joining, a few team-members had to withdraw for personal reasons, so I quickly called my trusty racing side-kick, Steve Jones, who has experience with these races.

"Steve, Peter here, you free this weekend?" As luck would have it, Steve was in-between a marathon and 2-week adventure up north, so having a familiar friend along for the weekend turned out to be a bonus. So I thought, relegated to team #2 hey, I'll show these guys....

I set-up my booth Friday afternoon, and delivered race kits, so I was able to also take-in a practice lap, which I really needed, since it was my first time off-road since the Icebreaker (late March), although I have done a little bit of mountain biking with Pepper and some commuting to / from the office and such. But it will be my first real foray with bike shoes and clips, finally an end to the running shoes and baskets!

Within minutes of hitting the course at just after 6pm, some guy behind me notices my shirt and starts yammering away. "Hey, what is mynextrace.com". I politely respond, and then attempt to ignore this fellow, need to focus, big race this weekend and It's a little rusty here on the path..more questions follow, "What do you guys do?", "Who owns the company?", "How do you make money?..blah, blah, blah. So, I think his name is Sean, here I am ripping around the forests and getting excited about the weekend, and some guy is asking if I'm hiring!

Anyway, I want to thank Sean (?) for the company and tips, we rode most of the course together (he would end up ahead of me and was patient to wait a few times while I untangled myself out of the foresty), and I found out he was one of the serious riders, he had a GPS system in his shirt and was going to download the course elevation and profile for his team-members to see before the next day's start. Hhmmm, that's intersting, I was going to ask him if I should drink light beer or regular beer...

Despite attending a stag that night, I got a decent sleep and felt real good before my 3 p.m. first-lap, #4 out of the gate for the team, Quadzilla 2. Meeting some of the guys and setting up "camp" was fun, but I knew quickly that these riders were more serious than they would pretend to be, the camp-site looked like a Nascar tune-up shop, there were tool boxes, buckets full of de-greasers, lubes, spare tires, even two racks for supporting the 10 bikes we had in the group. And, no sign of beer....yikes, this team is here to race! I recalled team Captain Wayne's email from a few days prior. "We're an easy-going gang, non-competitive...

My set-up was easy, empty the van of it's contents and sleep in the back...

It felt like summer camp all over again, only I never went, but it's what it must have been like....

here is a quick recap of the laps I completed:


- lap #1

... was great, it was very hot but I planned accordingly, and despite making the typical rookie mistake (going out to fast of course), my confidence level was extremely high, and it wasn't a crowded as I expected (my biggest fear, standing on a single-track lane, in a line-up of bikes) - you'd be amazed how much room can be found in a forest when you're in a hurry....

I decided pretty early in the lap to give it 100% (or pretty close anyway) - set the bar to go after for the remainder of the weekend, plus, knowing my bike's limitations and possibility of being too social, I guessed correctly that my best lap might just be the first one - 1:01:09 - not bad, although I did not know this time until after the race, not knowing that as you finish, a big screen t.v. was available to see immediately your result.

My tires were pretty worn out, and even though I was warned the night prior, I avoided getting new ones until after this lap.


- lap#2 -

....very nice evening ride, 8 p.m. - only I was scheduled for 8:40! Steve was out before me and had a chain break, so as I was trying to nap and digest a light meal, I heard my name being called. "Peter, you're up" Rats, did I sleep in I thought....

Still, a great time to mountain bike, and with the fresh new tires, a lubed-up chain and such, I went for broke baby - only problem was I had some early spills and shaky moments, and despite new tires I was still holding back out of habit, but after approximately 2/3 of the course, I regained full control (read: lost my marbles and went like hell) of my senses and cycled like a madman. I decided that NO ONE was going to pass me, and I accomplished this until the bitter end, I felt like that poor little fake rabbit tied to the fence, whizzing around a track with greyhounds in hot pursuit...

With the chain break, I had to time this lap myself (to measure my exact lap time), and my watch read 1:04, yeah, I was happy with that despite a poor start and stupid wipe-out along a safe, scenic stretch up the top (focus on the trail Peter, not the gorgeuos landscape of Southern Ontario)....

Time to reward this day with a few drinks....


- lap #3

.... yes, hell hath arrived to me in the middle of the night, 2:00 am, I really did not want to get out of the van...plus that skanky, red-neck trailer-park trash next to our camp-site was creeping me out, she was on cougar patrol all night with her weird parrot, I might run into her again....yikes.

What's it like riding a mountain bike with 350 others, at 2:00 a.m.? I wish I could tell you it was fun. Here is what John the veteran said as he came back to our camp at 12:30 a.m.

"It was heavenly riding, a god-send out there, nothing like it in the world."

Seriously, he said something weird and religious-like, and it was said with such conviction too, he must have been in another world out there. It was after midnight after all, and John had a freakish sense of fitness about him, he was easily 55+ and put many of us to shame... What John really meant to say was, "After I smoked crack, then went riding, it was like....

Yes, you would certainly have to be high on something to ride a mountain bike through a course such as this, at night, lights or no lights (stay tuned). "Oh, some riders have their best times at night" was a common, reassuring theme I would hear at the camp. Yeah, if bats and owls could ride they would surely do well....

All I could think about was keeping it together, nice and steady, let the maniacs pass me at will, talk to the bike - yes, my poor Giant, here we were again, past that point for an entry-level bike, when the whining, whirring, creaking and general angst begins. My poor little Giant, in-over-the head again it must be thinking (the owner, me of course)! Hang in there little buddy, we'll be done soon. One, two head-over the handlebars later, several falls and mis-turns into the brush, a near-impalement of a rather large stick with a sharp end (think of Rambo in the forest here).

And, the piece de resistance, my rear brake starts to give JUST as the lights go out! Nice....

The last 5km felt like an eternity, a battle to survive, and all the time, I was thinking, "what are the poor little forest animals thinking?" Are these humans nuts? The night belongs to us....

A few more accidents in the dark later, I arrived at the transition area, Karl the student was keen and eagerly awaiting my arrival, do these kids not have any fear I had to ask? A few guys noticed the dirt and dust covering my shirt, and one commented that it was a miracle my glasses had stayed on!

Lap #3 finally ended, 90 minutes later, and sleep would arrive quickly, when your life flashes before your eyes that often it's an easy, restful sleep...


- Lap #4

....the bitter reality arrives in waking up after a surreal experience such as this, even with a decent 3.5 hours of sleep. I felt relatively fresh, but in the light of day it dawned on me how on beat-up I was. When you're in the zone (Twilight Zone I should think) you don't pay attention to the pain, but it has an ugly way of reminding you...eventually. I realized that dust and dirt was everywhere, and my bike looked like crap. Things were rubbing, which is not positive. I had a massive bruise on my right calf, probably from end-over #2 into a pile of sand, big blow-out, fortunately in the dark where few if any had noticed.

I didn't bother cleaning or prepping the bike, poor thing, one more lap and we'll be done. I started slowly, but again you get caught up in this event, and before you know it, you're full-on once again, but at least most riders are now cycling on fumes, so your slow-motion last lap is not done alone. I don't recall much of this last lap, it was all a blur. I think I finished in 1:14. The best part was no falls and very few times my shoes left the clips, so the learning curve this weekend was complete...

The finish is very rewarding, like a marathon feeling, a job well done.

Our team did well, and Quadzilla #1 were truly amazing guys, too bad they had multiple chain and bike breakdowns, they were on a pace for a top-5 finish in their age category. I figured no one died or were sent to hospital, so success was accomplished! If you've never tried one of these events before, put it on your list, you won't regret it.

"Steve, what is our next adventure together?"