24 HOGGin'

Just spent the weekend riding the mountain bike.
Literally, the whole weekend.

I was foolish enough to sign up for the 24 Hours of Great Glen, located...well...on the side of Mount Washington.
A lot of people do it in teams of 2 or 4, but some are dumb enough to try it alone. It's a test of will and skillz.

Trail description:
Lots of dirt road, interspersed with some singletrack. 8.3 miles.

Cool.
I figured, I've done a lot of biking...why not?
If it's a lot of dirt road, I should at least be able to pull off a lap an hour, right?
WRONG!

Cannon was fired at High Noon on Saturday.
I held a pretty good pace for 5 laps, but then the singletrack started really frustrating me and kicking my ass. It's not exactly a strength of mine.

It really is an art that requires good balance, technique, focus, and short bursts of high power.

I...um..have none of those. Just the ability to zone out and go for long periods. Can't really do that on a mountain bike.
I tried at one point around midnight in the race, and did a header into a pine tree.
Good Times!
Also, the amount of climbing was unbelievable...and I even like climbs.

BY 1am, I was COOKED and totally out of my element. Went to bed for 40 minutes to try and get some consciousness back, but had the usual "lay there and think about the race" thing going on. Falling asleep on impact of pillow is something I have yet to perfect in my Ultra races. It's frustrating to be tired and not sleep, knowing that it's going to help.

Came out of the tent totally pissed off and not in the mood to ride.
Did a misery lap. Got passed every 2 seconds. Seemed like every time I'd get a rhythm established, a relay team dude would yell "on your left!".
This compounded my frustration....even though most offered the seemingly standard "Good Job Solo!".

Rolled into the camp 2 hours later(mind you, this equates to a 15 minute mile). I could've easily run faster, and knowing this REALLY pisses me off.
I tell Nicole, Mom, and Dad(kick ass crewing job, by the way) "I'm going to bed, and not getting up until I sleep".

A couple hours later, they're opening my tent. Time to go.
Spent the next couple hours riding, saying I'm gonna stop after this lap.
I said that a few times.. but with each lap, I kept getting more inspired. Around 10:30am Sunday, I told the gang. "Well, I'm so miserable now, might as well go and make myself more miserable."

I am SO glad I chose to do the last lap. Met up with a ton of other Solos.
It was really a celebratory lap and an awesome end to a tough event.
We shared battle stories of the experiences of the 24 hours, and enjoyed the hot sun after the chilly night.

I'll definitely be back next year. At least I'll know what to expect!