24
Hour of Vail Lake
Vail Lake Mtn, CA
April 27, 2008
By Namrita O'Dea 24 hours of Vail
Lake Race ReportIf you read about the day(s)
leading up to this race, you'd know I was completely
stressed and basically just wanted to survive
this race. The new bike fit that we had to apply
at the last minute in the hotel room turned
everything upside down for me. I had a new fit,
new fork, and new front tire and wouldn't have
a chance to try any of it out before the race.
When we arrived at Vail Lake on Saturday it
was already extremely hot, probably high 80's
or low 90's before the race even started. Thankfully
the run was short and it seemed as though I
was the first female to hit the trail. We started
on a sandy bit, then hit a dirt road which would
climb for 3 miles. This was the dam climb, or
the damn climb as I like to call it. The climb
is steady but there are a few long steep pitches.
I rode most, if not all, if it on my first lap
but being with a single gear I opted to walk
some of the steeps on the subsequent laps. Anyway,
I was passed early on one of the flat sections
by Terry and Liz. I wasn't concerned as I was
able to catch up quickly once the road turned
upward. They were climbing smart and steady,
but as you know with a SS there is really no
smart or steady :) After the dam climb there
is a bit of tech ridgeline singletrack that
rolls through some rocky stuff and has two steeeep
loose powder sand descents. These were fine
during the day but really sketch at night. I
found out later most (if not all) the other
women were walking these. Thankfully I rode
it through each lap with almost 100% success
because that increased my lead every lap. On
the first lap, this is where I lost the other
women for good. After that, there is some more
somewhat tech ridgeline steep ups and downs...soooo
fast it can get scary if you are not on it.
The exposure here was wild...when approaching
some of the drops it looked like you were flying
off the edge of the earth into the sky. It was
super cool. After some rocky/ledgy descents
it was more flat road to another section of
singletrack. Most of this trail was rolling,
with some steep tech whoops thrown in for more
fun. These made me smile :) I loved the last
few miles of this course minus the steep hike
a bike at the end.
I was so cooked and getting a little nervous
after my first lap that I wouldn't be able to
handle the heat. It was now mid to high 90's
but I was not sweating. I didn't feel like I
was able to cool myself at all so I decided
to drop the pace so I was not killing myself
in the heat. I also stopped for a few minutes
at the pit after each lap to hose myself down
and drink an entire bottle of water. In addition,
I was consuming two whole bottles while I was
on the course. My lap times were pretty steady
and I was able to stay in first for the rest
of the day. I didn't hammer at all and instead
played it smart with my pacing and my nutrition
and that worked out just fine.
On my 2nd night lap, one of my lights died.
This made the lap quite scary to ride as I couldn't
see any of the sand or ruts. I crashed 3 times
on this lap! It was slow but I tried walking
one of the downhills and that was scarier than
just riding it out. Luckily I made it back in
one piece and was able to get another fresh
battery. On one of my crashes, I lost my RFID
card which I needed to make my laps official.
I didn't realize it until I had already come
in from my lap and they wouldn't let me go out
without paying $5. My support crew took care
of that ASAP and I was on my way again...except
I got lost at the start/finish and rode around
in circles between some yellow caution tape
until I finally found the trail. DUH!! The sky
was incredible, you could see all the stars
and I took a few breaks up on the ridgeline
at night just to take it all in. I would sit
down with a pop-tart and just stare at the sky
for a few minutes. I really was enjoying myself..not
like other 24 hour solos in the past.
Even with the minor mishaps, everything was
functioning fine..the bike, my body, and I was
in a pretty good mental state (other than on
the lap with only one light). I knew I was 3
laps up on the field so I decided to skip the
last night lap in favor of a nap. I ate a nice
meal of Doritos, turkey sandwich, a burnt potato,
and some ruffles. Mmmm..salt. I tried to sleep
in the tent but couldn't make it happen. Then,
Eddie came in around 5am complaining that his
knee was bothering him. I decided to get dressed
and on the bike again to ride the sunrise lap
with him. However, his knee was hurting so bad
that he couldn't put any pressure on it and
had to walk all the climbs. Again, the desert
beauty did not disappoint. I wish I had pictures
it was so incredible at sunrise. I ended up
riding that lap out, plus one more. At this
point in the morning, the winds had picked up
and the ridge riding was so sketchy! I had to
ride on the extreme left side of the road/trail
at the top to avoid getting blown off ot the
right (which did happen once, luckily I didn't
get hurt). At 8:45 am I rolled up to the pit
with 11 laps and they said I could stop because
I was still 3 laps up and no one could possibly
catch me. I was fine what that decision and
turned in my card with 11 laps down. I didn't
wear myself out like normal at this one..don't
get me wrong, it was definitely extremely hard
because of the heat and the climbs, but I did
about the same mileage as I normally would in
a 12 hour race, not a 24 hour. Still, mission
was accomplished: A great training ride and
a podium spot..the top podium spot was icing
on the cake!
Kris and Mike were awesome with packing everything
up so we could get to the airport to catch the
redeye home. Orion showed up with pizza, as
promised, even though it was only about 12 hours
late ;) Thanks, guys. I honestly think the flight
was more painful than the race itself. I will
not ever do that again..but unfortunately I
had to get to class the next day as it is Finals
week at school.
Next up is 24 hours of Conyers, also in the
Granny Gear 24 hour Points Series!
