We like to bike. This page is about us and biking.
This is a photo of the current fleet as of summer 2008. From left to right: Amy’s Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp WSD (Women Specific Design), John’s Ellsworth Truth, Kelsey’s Trek MT 220, Maggie’s Trek Mountaintrack 60 KSD (Kid Specific Design – no kidding!), Libby’s Gary Fisher Cosmo KSD, and Jessica’s Trek MT 220.
Some people have more than one bike. Some people have lots of bikes. We tend to be one-bike-people. Six people, six bikes. Simpler that way.
Here’s a picture of John on one of his more challenging training rides, which proved helpful at 24 Hours of Moab.
24 Hours of Moab – 2008
Somewhere out on the course
Thanks to my Dad and John Wright for being my pit crew and keeping me fueled up throughout the race.
We arrived in Moab on Thursday evening and set up camp. All three of us rode a pre-race lap on Friday to check out the course. The wind was blowing like crazy and wrecking peoples tents and shelters. Saturday morning the wind woke me up at 3:30 and that was all the sleep I was going to have until sometime on Sunday evening.
Winds were strong (20 to 30 mph) through out Saturday with gusts up to 45 or so. Temperatures dropped to 36 on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Ten minutes into the race my chain fell off the small chainring and twisted a link. I spent about 15 or 20 minutes replacing that link which landed me solidly in last place at that time. Nice thing about last place is that there is nowhere else to go but up!
By riding steadily and not sleeping I was able to work my way up through the ranks. My goal was 10 laps, and I dug deep and rode the 9th lap as my fastest, clocking in at 11:44 on Sunday morning, allowing me to do my 10th and final lap, which I finished at 3:16 on Sunday afternoon. That was a tough lap, both mentally and physically.
Losing my lights on my second night lap added to the drama, but how can you have an epic if everything goes smoothly? The handlebar light battery checked out about 15 minutes into the lap, and my helmet light battery gave up about four miles from the end, so I jumped in behind another rider (team 142) and followed her into the pits. Having an almost full moon helped greatly.
Much more could be said about the drama and experience, and perhaps I’ll write more later. My bike season is officially over for 2008, and I met all my goals and then some. (Moab was a bonus!) Next year…? Time to start training. Well, maybe I’ll take a couple weeks off from the bike.
Hands, feet, arms and legs are taking turns going numb, and my feet and legs are somewhat swollen. I have a bruise/abrasion on my right shoulder from hitting a tree on lap 6 (7? 8? I don’t remember!). Right after the race I couldn’t get my right eye to focus correctly, and I’m currently having trouble swallowing. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That was a fun course and a good race. I think I’ve found my niche sport!
You can check out the results here: http://www.grannygear.com/realtime/public/class.php?display_standings_flag=1&class=M1
Here’s a link to my photo album on Facebook for the race: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008581&id=1114787672&l=2ce2acedeb
There’s a cool video someone already put together here: http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/954/92/
And I ended up in someone’s photo here (my number was 39): http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6232688_E7BUK#393412487_45Mxt
And there are some good race photos here: http://grannygear.com/Races/Moab/2008/webcast/moab08-john.shtml
Updates…
There are some great photos here: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6235361_aBrye#393597945_QX63F
I ended up in another photo here, but they got the name wrong! http://www.superhumanmag.com/component/option,com_gallery2/Itemid,52/?g2_itemId=21651
