Our team did 25 laps, which is impressive if you consider that there was a lot going on in everyone's lives that prevented training together like we did last year. Last year, we finished 8th in Sport class, this year, we slid to 20th. It seemed like a lot of work to get 20th, though. (Nevermind that the top 3 teams in Sport class would have been top 3ish in Expert). Regardless in how we finished, it was still a blast, and we're already committing to doing it again next year. It's so easy to forget how crappy you feel getting up at 3 a.m. to mount your bike and ride up the blueberry patch while still waking up.

El Presidente returned from India with some form of 3rd-World-I'll-Eat-anything sickness that made him weak. But he toughed it out and put in his 6 laps, FOUR of them at night in the dark. El Presidente also ran the loop around the pond at the start of the race. At one point, he told me that he was so weak and tired that he closed his eyes while riding the bike. 

Bauer, formerly the hour-of-power, spent his spring training for 24Hogg by hitting up the BMX track doing lots of 40 second BMX sprints. Nonetheless, he showed up with his singlespeed, pre-rode the course on Friday, and then promptly went to the bike shop to purchase a smaller chain ring. It was a good move, because for someone who hasn't been mountain biking, he still cranked out 6 laps, most only a few minutes slower than last year. He looked uber-fast, however, for those first 40 seconds of the lap!

Lowry showed up in good spirits with his belt-driven singlespeed. He was secretly hoping for mud, just so he could say "Hey guys, how's the chain lubing coming along?" Anyway, ML put in 6 solid laps on the singlespeed, very steady during the day and night with lap times not much slower than last year, despite not getting in the riding he wanted, nor having gears.

I had a good 24Hogg. I've actually have been riding a bunch, getting stronger. I rode both my new 29r Singlespeed and my 26r 4" travel bike. Funny thing, two of my three fastest laps were on my SS 29r. And to make it fair, one of those laps was my 7th lap to finish off the race when I was obviously much more tired. Gears and suspension are over-rated.

It's nice to have a team that with minimal training (except for me) can show up and still grunt out 24 to 25 laps, enjoy a few beers and not want to kill each other.

You don't need fancy, expensive bikes to come have fun at this event. Hopefully next year, we can get THREE MRC teams involved. 

So, what's it like to do a lap, you might be wondering....

You’re cold waiting in the tent. Your teammate was supposed to arrive three minutes ago. Is he coming any second, did he have a mechanical? Oh, there he is, whew. You spring up and run to the check-in table and your teammate hands you that baton. You tap your RFID card on the timing sensor and sprint for your bike.

Your ride for a couple hundred yards on a fire road, take a right and start your climb. You cross some foot-wide bridges through a traditionally wet march, though this year it’s dry, and up into the blueberry patch you climb on smooth single track. The blue berry patch isn’t long, just a punchy climb with a couple switch backs. Then you punch up a loose section of dirt, or you might be walking it because it’s not worth the effort to spin the granny gear at a walking pace just to stay on the bike. You come out by a house and you still have 100 meters to go up this steep driveway. You can’t believe how much the 100 meters hurts. You hammer anyway, though, because you want to get in front of the slower people before you hit the single track.

Ahh, the top of the climb, sit back in the saddle for a few seconds, a few strokes, roll over some roots. Stand back up, bike balanced under you as you hit some bigger roots and rocks that lead you right over a bridge. Then the flowy descent starts. It feels like skiing powder when you hit the turns right, even bumping over the roots aren’t bad until you mis-calculate your line. The bike works for you, your legs extend, your arms compress, the ground and your body work as one accelerating you down the hill. When you hit a turn wrong, you immediately know because you lose speed and you’re forced to take a couple pedal strokes to get your momentum back up.

You come out of the single track and back onto a fire road. Time to drink some water. Time to shift it into the big chain ring – if you’ve got one – otherwise, just spin your singlespeed like Fred Flinstone, or just coast, taking advantage of the rest.

Back to some climbs, and some descents on the fireroads. Through the corkscrew, where you’re going so fast at the bottom that you barely hold your line on the loose gravel. Ahh, Mile marker 4. It’s about to get interesting again. Back into the woods for one of the more technical sections. You’ve picked out which rocks you roll over, which lines to take. You get your front end light to roll over stuff. Did I just clear that? Ooops, there’s those big roots again that killed all momentum. Off the bike, sprint up over some rocks and roots, mount the bike and race back down toward the river bed. Suffer. Pedal. Suffer. Relief is almost here. And then you’re at the top of the little technical punchy climb that had 9 inch rocks to get up and over. You’re about 50-50 for clearing this section, and decide to hike it future laps to save energy. 

Descend. Flow. Normally you don’t enjoy fireroad, but here you’re making exceptions since it means a little rest and fluids. Boom back to the woods and into another singletrack climb, this one is relentless and plays mind games with you. But you’ve broken it down into three sections: three crux moves that you’ve got to be focused on because the energy it takes to get off and on your bike isn’t worth the moment of rest your legs get. Ahhhhhh….the top, that’s the last of the brutal stuff. Enjoy the descent. 

Mile marker 7. Almost there. Back into the woods one last time, accelerate up some more punchy dirt rolls. You maneuver through a few tricky roots that want to guide you straight into some big trees blocking the trail. Then you hit the plunge. People line up here to watch you descend the stairs and accelerate back into the woods for one last flowy section. 

Finish line. Dismount your bike and hope your teammate is waiting for you. Look down at your time, another one right on target. Hand the baton off. Calculate how much time you have to rest until your next lap. 

Rinse and Repeat six more times at cyclocross intensity, throw in a broken chain here and there, a few crashes, and there you have it.

Here's a link to my lap times.