The Setup
So this weekend a bunch of us decided to hit the newly named "Hardcore 24", formerly the 24 hours of Cutler. We brought 2 teams and one solo rider. The solo rider was greasey monkey doing his first solo 24. Our 4 person male entry was "Dirty White Boys" (80's Rochester rock band reference) featuring Echo, Sorgie, Sq-earl, and Squid. Our 5 person co-ed entry was "Team Jackalope" featuring Tweek, TreeSaw, Crashby, Instigator and Stuntmatty.
The Course
I didn't know what to expect from this course because I had never ridden the trails before. We did our pre-ride Friday night and I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun and HARD! Naming this race the "Hardcore 24" is definitely appropriate. It starts out sending you down a little chute, where you ride by a small outdoor amphitheatre (where bands were sometimes playing during the race). Then you cruise by a pond, and do a small climb to some singletrack. Then you do a pretty significant climb, which leads to some really fun singletrack in a pine forest. That singletrack also does some climbing and you end up in a big field at the top of the world. Then you do a seriously high speed downhill fire road, leading directly into a granny gear WALL of a climb that I only made once during the race. But at the top of that nasty uphill, you are rewarded with easily the most fun section of trail I have ever seen in a 24 hour race. Technical, fun and challenging are the key words. After a few miles of that, you get some pretty gnarly white knuckly downhill singletrack, and you pass tantalizingly close to the start-finish area. But much to your chagrin, you are then sent back UP another pretty significant climb, then you BOMB down this fireroad, do a quick bit of singletrack, pass the pond again, and finish the lap. Whew!
The Race
These times might be a little off because I'm going from memory, sue me! From my viewpoint the race went awesome. Sorgie started us out in the 90+ degree heat and turned a solid lap of about 1:03 I think. Sq-earl went out second and of course ripped a scorcher at about :55. I went out third and suffered through about a 1:07. It was so damn hot I could barely breathe, I have mad respect for everyone who turned a lap on that course this weekend. Squid went last for our team, and hadn't done a pre-ride. He learned the course the hard way on his first lap, and got a respectable 1:13.
We had decided we wouldn't look at the standings until the morning, but someone informed us that we were in 3rd place with 4th pretty close behind. Sorgie and Sq-earl turned in a couple more hot laps, with Sq-earl managing a 1:01 even with a broken chain. When I went for my second lap it was a bit cooler and I managed a 1:06. Squid went out and obviously benefitted from knowing the course, turning a 1:05. Still hanging on to 3rd place at this point, 1st and 2nd were running away with it.
Our third rotation got us into the night, where Sorgie and Sq-earl continued to dominate and stretched our lead. I turned a 1:13 which was a little slower than I hoped, but it worked. Squid's first night lap was I'm pretty sure his first ever night ride, and he turned in a respectable 1:20. Still hanging on to 3rd but 4th was gaining on us.
Our 4th rotation was the deathmarch through the early morning hours. Sorgie and Sq-earl were still pounding out fast laps, but my 3am lap was hell. I was dead tired and could barely spin my legs. I did my best to make some time up on the downhill sections and managed a disappointing 1:20, giving 3rd place up in the process. Squid went out and improved his night riding skills producing a 1:13. At this point we were down 10 minutes on 3rd place.
Our 5th rotation was the key. Someone overheard the team that passed us for 3rd talking smack about how they passed us and were going to pound us into the ground. Sorgie took offense to that, and laid down the f*cking LAW, pounding out a 1:01, taking back 3rd place, and getting us a small 45 second lead. Sq-earl also apparently took offense to the smacktalk, and turned a 1:00 lap, extending our lead significantly. At this point I didn't know how my body was going to react to another lap based on how whipped I was on my 4th lap. But I was determined to not let Sorgie and Sq-earl's efforts go to waste. I was gonna either turn a fast lap or die trying. I laid down everything I had and managed my fastest lap of the race, a 1:04. Squid went out and did the same thing, putting it all on the line and doing a 1:04ish lap. We now had over 40 minutes on the smacktalkers.
The final two laps were done by Sorgie and Sq-earl, who just plain don't slow down. Sorgie did a 1:02 and Sq-earl did a 1:00 coming in at 12:09pm, almost forcing me to go out again. A well earned 3rd place was ours with 22 laps completed.
We had an awesome support crew, including my GF who made me awesome sandwiches which I think were the secret super fuel.
The Best For Last
Our friend greasey monkey, in his first ever solo 24, turned an impressive 16 laps, getting 2nd place for his category and 3rd place overall for solo riders. AWESOME JOB!
We also had the pleasure of meeting one of Westy's good friends and training partners, Bob Anderson. This guy is one of the nicest and most humble souls on the planet, and also happened to dominate the solo class by turning in 20 laps. WOW.
Our 5 person entry also did very well, considering they had some illnesses to deal with. I think they finished 5th in their class, with Tweek turning in especially impressive consistent fast laps. Crashby I think pounded out a 1:02! Instigator did a 1:06 in the hottest conditions of the race, and paid for it in dehydration unfortunately. And stuntmatty won the "Most Improved" award - in Dalton last year he could barely make the climb, fast forward to 2006 where he went out and kicked serious ass every time he got on course. I think his best lap was a 1:02. TreeSaw, just a few months after having a child (and actually nursing said child between laps) turned in an extremely impressive performance!
Conclusion
This is a race you should all consider doing next year. The course is a monster but it's FUN, and damn challenging. They did a really cool thing at the start where they had a band start playing in the amphitheatre right as the runners took off for the LeMans start. Really cool effect since you ride right by there at the beginning of the lap.
The schwag was better than ANY race I've EVER been to, you would not BELIEVE the schwag list. The 1st place solo rider (Bob) got a $2700 Trek OCLV hardtail frame, they also raffled off a Cannondale Rush frame and a Cannondale CAAD-8 road frame. To add to the coolness, you could get whatever size frame you wanted when you won. I ended coming home with 2 jerseys, a Stan's NoTubes kit, and some gloves. Someone got a Park repair stand, the list just went on and on. Awesome.
Treesaw, post your pics!
So this weekend a bunch of us decided to hit the newly named "Hardcore 24", formerly the 24 hours of Cutler. We brought 2 teams and one solo rider. The solo rider was greasey monkey doing his first solo 24. Our 4 person male entry was "Dirty White Boys" (80's Rochester rock band reference) featuring Echo, Sorgie, Sq-earl, and Squid. Our 5 person co-ed entry was "Team Jackalope" featuring Tweek, TreeSaw, Crashby, Instigator and Stuntmatty.
The Course
I didn't know what to expect from this course because I had never ridden the trails before. We did our pre-ride Friday night and I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun and HARD! Naming this race the "Hardcore 24" is definitely appropriate. It starts out sending you down a little chute, where you ride by a small outdoor amphitheatre (where bands were sometimes playing during the race). Then you cruise by a pond, and do a small climb to some singletrack. Then you do a pretty significant climb, which leads to some really fun singletrack in a pine forest. That singletrack also does some climbing and you end up in a big field at the top of the world. Then you do a seriously high speed downhill fire road, leading directly into a granny gear WALL of a climb that I only made once during the race. But at the top of that nasty uphill, you are rewarded with easily the most fun section of trail I have ever seen in a 24 hour race. Technical, fun and challenging are the key words. After a few miles of that, you get some pretty gnarly white knuckly downhill singletrack, and you pass tantalizingly close to the start-finish area. But much to your chagrin, you are then sent back UP another pretty significant climb, then you BOMB down this fireroad, do a quick bit of singletrack, pass the pond again, and finish the lap. Whew!
The Race
These times might be a little off because I'm going from memory, sue me! From my viewpoint the race went awesome. Sorgie started us out in the 90+ degree heat and turned a solid lap of about 1:03 I think. Sq-earl went out second and of course ripped a scorcher at about :55. I went out third and suffered through about a 1:07. It was so damn hot I could barely breathe, I have mad respect for everyone who turned a lap on that course this weekend. Squid went last for our team, and hadn't done a pre-ride. He learned the course the hard way on his first lap, and got a respectable 1:13.
We had decided we wouldn't look at the standings until the morning, but someone informed us that we were in 3rd place with 4th pretty close behind. Sorgie and Sq-earl turned in a couple more hot laps, with Sq-earl managing a 1:01 even with a broken chain. When I went for my second lap it was a bit cooler and I managed a 1:06. Squid went out and obviously benefitted from knowing the course, turning a 1:05. Still hanging on to 3rd place at this point, 1st and 2nd were running away with it.
Our third rotation got us into the night, where Sorgie and Sq-earl continued to dominate and stretched our lead. I turned a 1:13 which was a little slower than I hoped, but it worked. Squid's first night lap was I'm pretty sure his first ever night ride, and he turned in a respectable 1:20. Still hanging on to 3rd but 4th was gaining on us.
Our 4th rotation was the deathmarch through the early morning hours. Sorgie and Sq-earl were still pounding out fast laps, but my 3am lap was hell. I was dead tired and could barely spin my legs. I did my best to make some time up on the downhill sections and managed a disappointing 1:20, giving 3rd place up in the process. Squid went out and improved his night riding skills producing a 1:13. At this point we were down 10 minutes on 3rd place.
Our 5th rotation was the key. Someone overheard the team that passed us for 3rd talking smack about how they passed us and were going to pound us into the ground. Sorgie took offense to that, and laid down the f*cking LAW, pounding out a 1:01, taking back 3rd place, and getting us a small 45 second lead. Sq-earl also apparently took offense to the smacktalk, and turned a 1:00 lap, extending our lead significantly. At this point I didn't know how my body was going to react to another lap based on how whipped I was on my 4th lap. But I was determined to not let Sorgie and Sq-earl's efforts go to waste. I was gonna either turn a fast lap or die trying. I laid down everything I had and managed my fastest lap of the race, a 1:04. Squid went out and did the same thing, putting it all on the line and doing a 1:04ish lap. We now had over 40 minutes on the smacktalkers.
The final two laps were done by Sorgie and Sq-earl, who just plain don't slow down. Sorgie did a 1:02 and Sq-earl did a 1:00 coming in at 12:09pm, almost forcing me to go out again. A well earned 3rd place was ours with 22 laps completed.
We had an awesome support crew, including my GF who made me awesome sandwiches which I think were the secret super fuel.
The Best For Last
Our friend greasey monkey, in his first ever solo 24, turned an impressive 16 laps, getting 2nd place for his category and 3rd place overall for solo riders. AWESOME JOB!
We also had the pleasure of meeting one of Westy's good friends and training partners, Bob Anderson. This guy is one of the nicest and most humble souls on the planet, and also happened to dominate the solo class by turning in 20 laps. WOW.
Our 5 person entry also did very well, considering they had some illnesses to deal with. I think they finished 5th in their class, with Tweek turning in especially impressive consistent fast laps. Crashby I think pounded out a 1:02! Instigator did a 1:06 in the hottest conditions of the race, and paid for it in dehydration unfortunately. And stuntmatty won the "Most Improved" award - in Dalton last year he could barely make the climb, fast forward to 2006 where he went out and kicked serious ass every time he got on course. I think his best lap was a 1:02. TreeSaw, just a few months after having a child (and actually nursing said child between laps) turned in an extremely impressive performance!
Conclusion
This is a race you should all consider doing next year. The course is a monster but it's FUN, and damn challenging. They did a really cool thing at the start where they had a band start playing in the amphitheatre right as the runners took off for the LeMans start. Really cool effect since you ride right by there at the beginning of the lap.
The schwag was better than ANY race I've EVER been to, you would not BELIEVE the schwag list. The 1st place solo rider (Bob) got a $2700 Trek OCLV hardtail frame, they also raffled off a Cannondale Rush frame and a Cannondale CAAD-8 road frame. To add to the coolness, you could get whatever size frame you wanted when you won. I ended coming home with 2 jerseys, a Stan's NoTubes kit, and some gloves. Someone got a Park repair stand, the list just went on and on. Awesome.
Treesaw, post your pics!
:
so I rode straight down to camp where he was a bit surprised to see me back so soon and he headed out as well. I also returned to find out that Instigator and Crashby were battling the effects of the heat and fatigue, which reminded me to eat and drink plenty. 
