As I lay here on the couch recovering, I figured I might as well write up yesterday's race.
WEMS #1 12 Hours of Gears in Kewaskum, WI was my 2nd attempt at a 12 Hour Solo Singlespeed race. A couple years ago in Leonard, MI I only managed to race for 10 of the 12 hours due to the entire course being covered in 6 inches of peanut butter mud from 3 straight days of raining. Today, forcasted for sunny and 70 degress would surely be different.
I surprised myself by staying out for the first 7 laps, stopping only briefly to drop of arm and knee warmers as the 8am start was still a bit chilly. Ben Popper from Killjoy was out supporting Julie and Amanda (Team Half Acre) and provided invaluable support to me as well allowing me to keep turning the pedals.
Eventually, though, I knew that I'd have to rest and stretch in intervals if I wanted to go all 12 hours. I tried slowing my laps from 23-25 minutes to 27-30 minutes to conserve energy, heeding Nevada Dave Norton's (Johnny Sprockets) advice that you'll feel better on the bike rather than stopping. Finally though, I had to stop and get some solid food (mmmmm cookies... :) )
After 5 hours and 11 laps I decided to come in for a lunch break. Cramping and general ill feeling told me it was time for a longer rest and some real food. So after averaging about 2 laps an hour for the first half I took the second half of the 5th hour off.
I toyed with the idea of putting on an easier gear for the second half of the race, but the few climbs there were weren't really hurting me that bad, and the taller gear really helped in the flats, so I decided to stick with it. While the final few laps found me hiking the steapest climb on the trail, the extra teeth made it easier to keep the spin up in the flats.
The second half of the race found me taking more breaks as cramps continued to plague me on the second half of the lap. Dave wasn't kidding, though, I never really felt all that great while sitting in the pit. I only managed 6 more laps in the second half, due in part to the fact that I stopped after 4 more hours, for 10 hours total. My body was done. 80 miles of bumpy, twisty, hilly trail had finally taken its toll.
Since the organizers hadn't updated the lap count for the solo singlespeeders since 4:30pm, I didn't really know where I stood. At last count I was sitting 7th with no realy chance of catching 6th, but I risked dropping more spots by stopping early not knowing if my chasers had also decided to call it quits. Checking the results today, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that two people ahead of me had called it quits early, and that my choice to do one last lap in hour 9 put me into 5th by one lap!
All in all it was a great day. I look foward to my next opportunity to shake the 10 hour monkey from my back. As for a solo attempt at 24 Hours of 9 Mile? Lets just say my new favorite Italian word is Duo.