8 Hours of Adrenalin, 2 Hours of Nausea

My entire season was dedicated to preparing for this years 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championships near the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. Prior to the race, everything was going well, I felt as if I were in peak condition, my morale was high, and I was ready to kick some ass. I wasn't going there looking for a top 5 like last year. I was going for the win. My parents have been great all season, letting me train instead of work as I am a senior at Shippensburg University and this was going to be my last opportunity for them to help me like this as I will be heading into the work force next year. So we got to Monterey on Wednesday afternoon, and from then on spent some time eating some great food at many of the local eating establishments. On both Thursday and Friday I pre-rode the course which I wasn't that fond about, but made myself like it by the time the race came. The course was a 14 mile lap and all of it was out in the hot 100 degree California sun. There was a mile or two of singletrack and the most technical obstacle was a staircase to ride down as the course crossed the speedway... not my cup of tea. While hanging around the venue, I was surprised to be approached by some of the Aussies who had shown up for the race including John Claxton (2nd at this year's Australian National Championships). Who would have known that someone on the other side of the world knows somebody from Locust Gap! This encounter gave my ego a little boost, knowing that possibly all of my competitors would be watching out for me as a potential world champion. So race cay morning, I go through my usual routine and get myself mentally prepared to tear my legs and the rest of my body to pieces for the next 24 hours. The call up for the race ended with myself being introduced last as the highest ranked athlete leaving me with goosebumps and a silence where the only thing I heard was my heart beating. Two minutes later, the gun goes off and I run to my bike and the race is in full swing. By the time things had settled down, I was in the top 10 and everyone was in close proximity. About 3/4 of the way through the first lap, Tinker (this years world champ) and Kelly Magelky(2nd) attacked and were off the front. I held back and rode with Nat Ross, Ernesto Marenchin, John Claxton, Sloane Anderson, and a few others. Rolling through my pit area after lap 1 I exchanged Hydrapaks, grabbed, a bottle, and hopped on a new clean bike. This is how I was going to do the race. I would be switching off between my Carbon Rush and Taurine every lap, each holding two fresh GU's and a cold bottle. I would also grab food in later laps, and receive a 2nd feed for anything additional at the end of the lollipop loop through the start/finish area. These stops were consistent and took about 10 seconds. I was rolling through faster than most racers courtesy of Mom and Dad. I was feeling great. I thought I was hydrating well (nearly a half gallon/lap), and found myself in the top five by 7:00p.m. The only guys ahead of me were Tinker,Kelly, John, and Nat; the top 4 in the race. The sun began to slide behind the mountain ranges, the temperature instantly dropped from 100+ to what felt like 70. I started to feel better than I had all day. I thought, how does this happen?? I'm supposed to be feeling more fatigued, tired, sore, grumpy, and pain-stricken ad the day goes on. So I seized the opportunity of feeling awesome, shifted 3 gears higher than I'd been riding all afternoon, and put the hammer down. It was almost nightfall and I was ready to tear the place apart. Cruising through my pits I ate a PB&J and some potato chips, took some B-vitamins, and Calcium-Magnesium tablets along with my regular exchanges. I went out for my first full night lap at 8:00p.m. with a mission, but it wouldn't be until 10:00p.m. that I would return (about 50 minutes slower than my near 1:10:00 lap times). During that lap, I still felt great in the beginning, but started to notice something wrong around the 2nd fire road climb. I figured it was just the normal uncomfortable pains setting in that are associated with the race... no big deal. After going into the singletrack I found myself on the ground in one of the corners. I made myself calm down a bit and ride smoothly, because this is not a course any pro racer should crash on. It's just sand and dirt, that's it. So I started back up again and felt nearly swept away as the nausea began to settle in. I was near the halfway point and was sweating buckets in the cool night air... Oh Shit! This is not supposed to happen to me. From there on, I crawled pathetically slow up every climb, taking breaks on the tops of most of them being patient and careful not to throw up all over the trail. Soon my lead on Ernesto would be lost, but this was the least of my worries. I eventually made it back to the pits and sat down, while my parents covered my head in icy wet cloths to cool my fever down. I was eating papaya enzymes, B-vitamins, calcium-magnesium tablets, and drinking Coke to hopefully get rid of my nausea. I decided to go take a half hour nap in the car, then come back to race if I felt up to the challenge. It wasn't until 1 and 1/2 hours later that I felt decent enough to ride again. Being laps down out of the top 10 and being unsure if my body would operate well for the rest of the race, I called it quits. I was really hating life. All that I worked for this year was done... nothing mattered in the racing world, and I was pissed off at myself the most. The next morning I went to go get my bikes, and racing gear out of the pit area, and was informed by Roberta, Marks wife, that 5 others out of the top 10 were pulled out during the night due to chronic dehydration and other race related illness. I also learned that my teammate Dez Wilder pulled out the same time I did due to the same thing. Our body's just did not handle the extreme temperature changes. Knowing all of this I felt better that I had stopped. Sometimes shit happens. Then I began to think about what had happened. It was out of my control, and most importantly, I couldn't recall any of the top racers who have not experienced something similar to this. After the race Mark reassured me of this, and teammate Rob Lichtenwalner, also a 24-hour racer, sent me a message, "sorry to hear about the Rob stomach", as he has gotten sick quite a few times in the past couple years. So for now, I am going to use this as a learning experience and finish off my season with the last Michaux race, the Bear Creek XC, and the God's Country Marathon. Through this, I learned that my passion lies in endurance racing. For next year I will focus on the Granny Gear 24-Hour Series, 24-Hour Nationals, some National 100 mile races, and select 12 hour events. In the process, I will probably cut down my races from about 40 to 20 some in order to have a more competitive edge at each event. Thanks to my parents, family, friends, and sponsors for supporting me. It's greatly appreciated. Congratulations to all who finished, and to Rob and Aaron for tearing things up at 7-Springs.