Wausau 24 2012

This year of racing I have been more laid back than ever before. I have put very little effort into preparing for races and have seen them as chances to have fun and build fitness for cx. The funny part is that this has been my best season of racing yet. Along with Scott I won two duo long WEMS mtb races, I won a solo 6 hour mtb race, and took third in a 60 mile mtb race. Whatever it is that I have been doing, or not doing, seems to be working, so I stayed on the same track for the Wausau 24 race.

One of the things that I have been doing right is riding with strong teammates and Wausau 24 was no exception. Matt G., Anna and Sanjay G. and I lined up for the 24 hour coed race. I think we all knew we had a chance of doing well, but once Anna came through on her first lap with a time that was faster than a lot of the guys out there we knew we had a chance to win.

Matt and Sanjay were crushing laps like the elite riders they are and Anna kept turning in really fast times. I maxed out my ss and turned in decent times. By 12 hours in we had a 15 minute lead on second place in our category and we found ourselves in first place overall! Then the night laps hit and endurance really became a factor. We faltered slightly on a few laps and opened the door to second place in our field and were bumped to third overall (that was inevitable though).

Thankfully, even though my gear was maxed out in the daylight, at night that same gear gave me some fast laps. My night laps were only 2-3 minutes slower than my day laps. Plus, even though Sanjay thought he couldn't give any more for the laps he went out on, he kept crushing his night laps.

We found ourselves in first place by about 15-20 minutes with 3 laps left. Anna was willing to do a 7th lap but we worked out a deal where she would clean up the camp if I doubled up at the end and did 8 laps instead. I was feeling pretty good the whole race and never cramped or got tight legs so I knew I could double up.

We had discussed my stopping after our 27th lap if the lead was large enough, but that morning it rained a little and the previously loose and dusty trails were now riding great. I could finally kind of corner. I was going out for an 8th lap either way.

I came through on my 7th lap and Mike and Matt said we were in first by 17 minutes. I thought they said 7 minutes, so instead of taking a somewhat leisurely 8th lap I did what I could to keep the pace up, always assuming that second place was catching me. I came through on our 28th lap in 24:28:42. We won our category by about 13 minutes and we took 3rd overall! You can get to all the results here.

It was a great way to end my mtb race season (besides the Bl@ster). It was a ton of fun to hang out with everyone for the weekend and to get to know people better. Our team was in agreement that we would leave the 24 hour game on top. Next year I think I want to go back for the weekend, but do a 12 or 6 hour instead. I am still dealing with the sleep deprivation. I think it would have been easier to ride 8 laps straight instead of spreading them out over 24 hours and getting about an hour and a half of sleep in that same amount of time.

Next up, cx starts in September!