More Old Pueblo
I thought I’d fill in some details from the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo race.
It’s a bit of a drive to get there. I was able to get to the race site Friday afternoon before the event. There are a lot of people here, and it can be hard to find a spot. Some creative driving, and help (willing?) from folks whose camps I was driving/barging through, got me a good spot on the course. I got my EZ up rigged, all my gear arranged, and was pretty proud of myself. Unfortunately the wind was not cooperating. The tent collapsed in the early AM hours of Saturday. Picture a parachute tied to the side of the car you’re sleeping in! I was able to hog tie it, and rearrange my stuff. Now my camp looked more like a flea market, than a proffesional pit area. At least it didn’t happen while I was racing.
Outside of the wind, the weather was great. Sunny, warm, just what I was hoping for. The race went well. I was able to ride with friends early on, and follow wheels to avoid the worst of the wind. Later on, the speed difference between team riders and solos began to show, and I had trouble keeping up with the other riders. This left me exposed to the wind more than I wanted. My lap times slowed more than I hoped overnight, but I certainly wasn’t alone in this experience. One tough side effect of the wind was all the dust in the air. It’s amazing how much of this you can see at night with lights blazing. Not the best sight. I still have a pretty good coating of Sonoran desert in my lungs, I think.
Since I didn’t have any one there for support, I could only guess at what the race standings were. I’ve raced here before though, and had a good idea that 16 or 17 laps would mean a high placing. I came in from my 16th lap to finish at 12:05PM. My friend Miles was at the finish waiting for his rider. He let me know I ended up in 6th. I didn’t want to be disappointed, but 5th would have meant a place on the podium. I was only 4min behind the 5th place rider. Oh well, ride faster next time I guess.
The main problem following the race was the return drive. It was 3:00PM, I was tired, I was scheduled for work Monday afternoon, and I had 550mi ahead of me. I headed for Phoenix, but needed an emergency ‘pit stop’ (nap) on the side of the road. Probably wasn’t the smartest idea to start driving at that point. I did end up making it safely to Phoenix, and then home, so all was well.
I’ve been home for enough time to cough most of the sand out. It’s snowing outside right now. Hopefully that will see some good conditions for long rides and events around here in the next month.
Fred
