24 Hours of Moab 2008 - Dust and Wind

October is one of my favorite months, it brings with it golden leaves, crisp air, and the 24 Hours of Moab. The 24 Hours of Moab is the only race I've done consecutively regardless of injury or training. Jo and I had been back from Oz only 3 weeks when the start gun sounded Oct. 11th. I was undecided about the race and apprehensive about my level of de-training. I played with the idea of a Solo or Duo Pro attempt, but settled on doing it on Phoenix Multisport's Just for Fun team.

Phoenix had three teams at the race this year. Scott was racing Solo, Griff and Molly were racing Duo Pro, and Ben, Tad, Jon, Jeff, and I were doing a 5 person Just for Fun team. The emphasis was on Scott, Molly and Griff who were racing for real. The support Phoenix was able to put together was amazing. We had our own tent city with a large communal team tent Jacki's bus, Drew our dedicated mechanic, Molly our massage therapist, and a small army of volunteers. Proper support makes all the difference in any Solo or Duo 24 hour attempt. I can speak from experience, having done both Solo and Duo Pro 24 hour races with nothing more than myself for support. Having someone to talk you out of the pit of dispair at 4:30 in the morning when it's 5 degrees below freezing and you don't want to pedal anymore is priceless.

Jo and I left for Moab at noon on Friday, only 1.5 hours behind schedule. Throughout the entire drive through the Rockies and Eastern Utah the truck was buffeted by strong gusty winds. The first winter storm of the season was passing just North of us in Wyoming, but strong winds from the low pressure extended well into the Southwest US. The winds on the drive were a foreshadowing of the weekend that lay ahead. We rolled into Moab just in time for dinner with the rest of the Phoenix team and volunteers. It was good fun meeting everyone and catching up over pizza and salad.

Phoenix Multisport Just for Fun Team

Jonny V's Pants - Ha!

(The 80''s called, it wants its pants back!)

Phoenix Multisport Racers and Volunteers

After dinner we made the quick 30 minute drive to Behind the Rocks and the huge tent city that forms every year for the race. The Phoenix area was set up in the Solo pits right along side the race course. I set up my truck next to the communal tent. Jo and I set up on the far side of teh communal tent. Our camp area consisted of my truck with a Kelty rain fly off the back and carpet underneath along with my car camping tent which was large enough to sleep us and Sugar and Molly. Learning from the "rain year" in 2006, I stayed up until midnight digging a drainage moat around the tent and truck. Throughout the night the winds slowly picked up from a light breeze to sustained gusts of over 40mph. By midnight the wind was so strong I was able to fly the wing shaped Kelty rain fly with one hand. Its aerodynamic shape allowed it to hover with very little input. It reminded me of the simple wing demonstrations I've seen in flight school.

Flying the Wing Shaped Rain Fly in Strong Winds

Sugar Setting Up for the Night

(she ended up sleeping in the tent)

Molly Concerned About the Wind

Fun with LED's

"Alex's World"

The wind would only get worse. I have a mountaineering tent that will sustain high winds, I but brought the car camping tent because it was larger. My logic was sound, it's roomy and has a mesh top that vents well and would let lots of cool air in for good sleeping. This decision would haunt me the rest of the weekend. I settled into my sleeping bag only to wake up 20 minutes later with the tent collapsing on my head. I unzipped the fly to a surreal sight. The wind was so strong that the rain fly had broken free from it's stakes and was hovering 10 feet in the air from the back of my truck. The only thing stopping it from blowing downwind into the unfortunate campsite behind us was 3 Velcro straps. I estimated the windspeed was close to 30mph. I managed, with Ben's help to break it down and stuff it safely in the back of the truck.

The night was pure hell. The tent collapsed 3 more times and other than a flapping rain fly there was no way to cover the mesh upper area to protect us from blowing sand. I could literally feel and hear sand raining down on my pillow and sleeping bag. By 8:00am I had totaled 50 minutes of sleep, not a good way to start a 24 hour race.

Throughout the morning the Phoenix campsite was bustling with activity. The crew was busy cooking, adjusting bikes, and warming up. The wind was relentless. It wouldn't have been that bad if it wasn't for the dust. The race start and tent city rests in a large dusty bowl surrounded by rocks on most sides. The shape of the rocks created a venturi and higher wind speeds in the bowl. As it whipped through the bowl it picked up dust and sand, blasting the tent city and everything in it. Most of the photos below are Jacki and Tad's because I didn't want to expose my camera to the dust. At 11:15 I tried to warm up, but couldn't ride without tearing up from dust in my eyes. I sealed my sunglasses to my face with duct tape which worked pretty well. The wind and dust made it slow going, but by 11:30 everyone was ready for the noon start.

Ben Securing the Tents

Getting Ready for the Start

Dialing Bikes

Pre-Race Hydration

Ready to Race in a Dust Storm

Scott, Molly, and Me

Scott (Solo), Molly (Duo-Pro) and I(Just for Fun) were all starting together. We grouped up at the back of the thick line of riders ready for the Le Mans start. It was a 100 yard run through the sand, around a tree and back to our bikes. I followed my normal start strategy of not going anaerobic on the run and making up time on the bike on the dirt road and first climb. It worked as usual, but I could tell my fitness had declined drastically in the 6 weeks since my last race.

Lined Up for the Start

Le Mans Start

Bikes Staged

Scott Finishing the Run

This year was my first time riding a hardtail 29er on the course. I was a little worried about the tech sections after the first climb, but thought the bike would be more suited for the majority of the flat course. It was! I breezed up the first climb with ease and the 29er wheels just rolled over everything. I was a little slower on the early tech sections after the first climb, but easily made up any time lost on the flat sections that followed. The course was dry and the wind had whipped up sandy sections that were exceptionally bad this year. I watched people in front of me on 26" bikes plow into the sand and get stopped dead in their tracks. On the Superfly, if I had enough speed, the bigger tires would plane over top of the sand without loosing much speed. Except for the steep sandy hill around mile 4, I could ride the entire course without having to walk any of the sand pits. In fact the biggest danger this year was avoiding crashing into people in front of me as they bogged down in the sand. My first lap was a rather unspectacular 1:23.

Finishing Lap 1

Molly Finishing Lap 1

Scott Finishing Lap 1

After my lap I breathed a sigh of relief. The 24 Hours of Moab is more of a festival than a race. The down time between laps is always filled with catching up with old friends, camp fire shenanigans, food, bike repair, midnight delirium, and freezing cold mornings. This year was no exception and being on a 5 person Just for Fun team there was no shortage of downtime for all of the above with the huge Phoenix crew. Jeff was on his way to San Diego to film a hang gliding movie and stopped by for the weekend. It was great to catch up and hang with him between laps. Then there were the old friends from Salt Lake that I look forward to seeing every year at the race. I guess I didn't really have much downtime!

Ben Patching Me Up

(I crashed the week before the race)

Massage Therapist Molly and Ben

Air Guitar

(dust guitar would be more accurate)

Tad and Alex

The Bens and Tad

The Other Ben Getting Ready for His Lap

As the hours ticked away, constant wind and blowing sand clogged everything. It was a constant bother. The only relief was in Jacki's VW bus or riding a lap on the course. My heart went out to the volunteers who weren't racing and never got a break from the sand and wind. As we dealt with the sand, Scott was plugging away at his solo attempt, putting in solid and consistent lap times. As he pitted between laps he was swarmed by volunteers with food, a warm jacket, massage and a bike tune up. The same was true for Griff and Molly who had a level of support I could only dream of in my past attempts. Their lap times were impressive and they hovered between 3rd and 5th place from the start.

Scott Pitting Between Laps

Griff Staging for a Lap

Griff on the Course

Molly Going Out for a Lap

As the sun set it was time to get ready for my second lap. Having sold my high intensity racing lights, I planned on riding my lap with a small LED head light and two smaller LED's mounted on the sides of my helmet. Hillarity ensued as I rigged my lights and tested them in the campsite. Everyone laughed at my set up and questioned if it was safe, much less effective. Finally Jon stepped in and insisted I borrow his race light. I reluctantly agreed, and was grateful he lent it to me once I was out on the course.

Dusty Sunset

My Light Setup

(everyone laughted at me)

I was determined to rally on my night lap and ride a faster time than my first. I rode hard out of the start tent, charging through the tech sections, running the mile 4 hill and blasting through the back flats. As I neared the steep technical descent after mile 11 I was well on the way to a 1:20 to 1:25 lap. Then I made a bad decision. At the top of the baby head filled descent I hopped down a small 18" ledge and I saw another rider stumbing down the line. He was half on, half off his bike clumsily walking down the line. I was angry that he was walking his bike on the only rideable line, but rather than make him move I went off line. It was a huge tactical mistake, I had no problem navigating my way through and over the baby heads without crashing, but I unknowingly gashed my rear tire. On the next climb I felt that sinking feeling of a flat. I tried inflating it and shaking it to get the Stans sealant inside to stop the leak, but it wasn't working. Learning from past mistakes I avoided taking the "maybe it will seal" bait and put a tube in the tire. A goal for next year reduce the time it takes me to change a tubless tire filled with Stans. I estimate the whole process from first recognizing the problem to clipping back in to my pedals was 10 to 15 minutes. I only had enough air left to inflate my tire to 20psi. 20psi in a tubed tire is pinch flat range so I had to favor it the rest of the lap.

An unexepected bennefit of my tire colamity was getting see elite solo riders Chris Eatough and Tinker Juarez out on the track. They had passed me while I was dealing with my tire and I caught them on the last climb. As I was riding up, the guy in front of me had a MonaVie-Cannondale jersey on and he rode off line a little. Realizing it was Tinker I unclipped rather than pass him. He offered to let me by, but I replied "No way!". Instead I moved off the good line and passed him and Chris politely. As I went by Chris, I told him we shared the same home town of Ellicott City. We chatted briefly about knowing the same rides and some of the same people and then I pulled ahead. I felt pretty good passing Chris and Tinker, on a climb no less, but reminded myself I was on lap 2 and they were on lap 8! Tinker ended up finishing 2nd, my best 24 hour solo finish was 6th in 2005 at the 24 Hours in the Sage. I have nothing but respect for them and thought about how Scott, Molly and Griff were doing as I nursed my saggy rear tire back to the finish.

Molly on a Night Lap

Scott Getting Warmth, Food, and Love in the Pit

Molly Warming Up in the Bus

It was almost 11pm and the wind and dust was finally starting to waine. Jo had been busy the entire race working hard supporting our team. Her sweet smile in the pit was a treat I looked forward to at the end of each lap. Back in the pits I cleaned up my bike from the flat and checked that the tube was holding pressure. She was planning on staying up so I opted to sleep in the truck rather our tent which had been transformed into a sand pit. It was cold and the dogs were restless, but I slept much better than the night before, logging a solid 5 hours.

Ready for Bed

Waking up, as always at any 24 hour race, was an exercise in misery. Sand mixed with tears, turned to clay and concreted my eyes shut. Leaving the oasis of a warm sleeping bag to dawn a thin layer of lycra in the pre-dawn cold is worse than a cold shower. I've always thought staying up all night and maintaining a constant level of suffering suits me better than taking a break. I'd prefer to not know what I'm missing rather than have a small taste of relief only to have to get up and suffer again.

Jacki in the Morning

Much Needed Chapstick

After eating Christy's stellar breakfast and some much needed caffine I was ready to ride again. Jo and I walked down to the start/finish tent where we met up with more of the Phoenix Crew. I headed out of the start tent fast, but on the first climb I started hearing a rubbing sound coming from below. My rear tire had a huge bulge that was rubbing against my front derailer when in the granny gear. I didn't seat the tire bead on the rim correctly when I fixed the flat. The only way to fix it would have been to deflate it and blow it up again. I didn't have time or air for this so I opted to just ride the lap single speed style in the middle ring. Standing up the steeper sections hurt my knee, but I wasn't much slower than my first time, riding a 1:29.

Going Out for the Morning Lap

Tad in the Morning

Griff Finishing the Dawn Lap

As I handed the baton over to Jeff at the end of the lap my race was over. Our Just for Fun category lived up to its name this year. It felt more like hanging with good friends and biking in the desert than a race. Scott, Griff, and Molly were having a completely different experience though. Scott churned away throughout the night, posting consistant lap times and finishing with 8 laps under his belt. Griff and Molly battled relentlessly, riding their way onto the podium with a solid 3rd place finish. In 2005 I rode 9 laps on a Duo Pro team with Brandon. We finished 4th, it was buffet of pain and that year the weather was beautiful! I had tons of respect and excitment for Molly and Griff's awesome finish.

The Phoenix crew spent the afternoon after the race breaking down camp, packing, cleaning, eating, recovering, and of course delerious shenanagins. Jo and Tad headed out for a victory lap and then everyone hung out to watch Molly and Griff at the awards ceremony.

Scott with Jo and Tad Before Their Victory Lap

The Phoenix Crew

Molly and Griff on the Podium

Headed Home

Another 24 Hours of Moab Under Our Belt

After the awards Jo and I headed into town for dinner and then started out on the long drive back to Boulder. The drive home was a mix of sore legs, mountain dew, dusty palms, delerium, and trying to stay awake. Every year the 24 Hours of Moab is a different experience, this year was the year of Wind and Sand. It's always fun to ride in the race, but like most things in life it's the people that make it special. Thanks to everyone who showed up for another great year!