N24HC 2016

Jim Parker

Cruzbike, Inc. Director
Staff member
Great question

Maria and Lucia will be on RAAM in the support crew still. So the only way that happens is if @Jim Parker is around and not working and can post like he did for Calvins or may be he has another delegate.
Unfortunately I don't have anyone feeding me updates on the race. I wish I did! -Jim
 

Jim Parker

Cruzbike, Inc. Director
Staff member
Just got off the phone with Larry. He and Kevin blasted out with the lead pack and led for the first 100 miles or so. Sounds like they got into fluid/electrolyte troubles, exacerbated by 95 degree heat.
Larry dropped out after 15 hours. Kevin dropped out after 17 hours. Joe hung steadily in the race and finished first among Team Cruzbike, with about 420 miles. Larry seemed pretty wiped out. I told him he needed some soup and a nap.
I'm sure Larry will have a lot more details when he recovers. In the meantime - Great race, Joe!

Jim
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
well Larry was still experimenting with his new diet and race fueling so you can expect issues like this to happen. the only true way to test a 24hr fueling strategy is to test it in a 24hr event and sometimes you go belly up. i'm sure like myself he's learned a ton from this dnf and will be more dialed for the next one.

Congrats to Kevin for his effort and Joe for taking it to the end.
 

JOSEPHWEISSERT

Zen MBB Master
Quick race report: Larry and Kevin were riding like animals and were off the front of the pack a lot. They were riding very strong. But weird things can happen in these long races. And it was 96 degrees according to my Garmin and the heat didn't let up until the sun went down. Then it got a little chilly, probably in the low 60s. A lot of people were riding with sleeves, jackets, and some with long legged pants. I thought the temps were a welcome relief, and not too chilly, so I just kept on riding with bib shorts and a jersey only. There were a few clouds, but the moon was out all night and moved across the sky as the night progressed. There were pockets of warm and cold air, so the temps changed on the fly. Before I got to 100 miles, I started in on my Starbucks frapps. I had 8 small bottles and the last one was empty with two loop 3 laps to go before the end. I never planned on drinking that many, and brought 8 to make sure I had more than enough. Wrong. And I was stuffing Pringles and peanut butter crackers in my face every time I stopped. I was so hungry. I was drinking infinit like crazy, almost two gallons, plus a lot of straight water. I kept urinating and the color was good, so I knew dehydration was not too bad. I easily hung on to the lead group on the first loop (121 mile loop) but got separated at the first check point (34 miles in) by trying to get a bottle swap from support. Then I spent the next 34 miles chasing the smaller lead group, almost catching it, and just burning loads of energy unnecessarily. The chasing was a bad, bad decision. It was a carrot on a stick right in my face for a long time. I caught up to Larry on the second loop (24-mile loop). He was already 24 miles ahead of me from riding with the lead pack. He said he couldn't put out the power anymore. The lead pack had toasted him with the hills. So we had a bunch of fun slingshotting the hills and blowing past DFs on loop 2. I got 4 of those 24-mile loops in. Then something went wrong and he wasn't behind me anymore. I heard from the support crew that he was having back spasms and may or may not drop out. So I just went on at my own pace on the third loop and passed a million DFs all night long. I only got passed once, and it was a pair of young guys working together. I followed them for a lap, but they were cooking and I just went back to my own pace. After a long night, the sky started to lighten up. I had under an hour to get in my final laps and busted my butt to get in two laps. I ended up with about 10 extra minutes. One guy almost made his final lap, but got to the final checkpoint a few second too late, so he didn't get credit for his last lap. So I had a little time and I went and showered. My stomach felt great, unlike last year when I had intestinal distress after about 8 hours until after the end. But I was so tired, I could barely stay awake at the ceremony. But I got on stage! 423.1 miles and second in my age class, men's 55-59. I climbed 12,021 feet. My max speed was over 39 mph. And my average riding speed was 19.2 mph. Other than the voracious appetite, I felt great all day long. I'm sorry Larry and Kevin had to drop. I'm sure the would have had medals.
 

jond

Zen MBB Master
excellent Joseph. handling the heat and riding smart well done. truly remarkable. amazing your stomach survived that diet of pringles etc :) enjoy your recovery champ.
 

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Hey ... What's the local rag mag? Perhaps one of us can tip them off and batman can become a local hero! We can have a picture of you and the A - team together.

You have done something incredible. Well done!
 

super slim

Zen MBB Master
Joe, that was a GREAT ride, and you should get the local TV news to do an interview of you!!!
NOT to rub it in the LBS owner's face!!
 

JOSEPHWEISSERT

Zen MBB Master
My Evil twin says you need a picture of you on stage to send to the members of the Thurs night ? shop ride thanking them for the help with training.
Maybe you could get the Owner to help pass them out ?
( there IS a reason I do not own a firearm )
later,,,, bye
The LBS owner was at the awards ceremony and saw the whole thing. He was in my age group, but I don't know how he did yet. Not so well I think because his whole group and shop's tent were located just past the loop 3 checkpoint and I saw him sitting there with the group as I came through after I had done 400 miles. All the guys and girls wearing that shop's jersey are a great group of guys. They were cheering me on from their tent as I came through the checkpoint on those few final laps. I guess none of THEM have any issues with recumbents.
 

JOSEPHWEISSERT

Zen MBB Master
Great effort Joe, any more news on how Larry and Kevin are doing?
Kevin was, in his own words, in pretty bad shape. He was dehydrated and had stomach issues. He knew he had to stop when he couldn't even drink water. When he did finally stop, he vomited. That was at 1:00 AM. He had to get to a hotel and couldn't keep anything down until Sunday morning. He had ridden non-stop for 17 hours and about 350 miles. That's over a 20.5 mph average. This is the third race I've done with Kevin, and make no mistake, he is one tough mo-fo. He had some bad luck at Calvin's with cold rain, wind, misery, pot-holes, flat tire, crashing, and nearly freezing to death. Now the opposite with oven-like temps that just would not stop for what seemed like forever, dehydration, stomach issues, and vomitting. But he'll get it all right soon I'm sure, and then watch out. He'll be setting records and getting medals. Suffering through adversity is the path to success. He has what it takes: attitude.

Larry seemed a little tired but was okay at the awards ceremony. He was having back spasms on loop 2 and had to get off the bike to deal with that. I was hoping he would be able to get back in the race, but I understand how it is. (This was my third time doing this race. My first time was in 2007, when I did 121.6 miles in the blistering heat. My computer was on my aerobars at the wireless limit and my mileage was understated, so I wasn't drinking nearly enough. I had to drop out because both legs cramped so bad, they just locked up. I was stuck on the side of the road, standing over the top tube of my DF, waiting for the quads to ease up enough so I could just get off the bike. I was done for the day.) Larry got 302 miles in 15 hours, which is a tremendous accomplishment regardless of dropping out of the race. That's three back-to-back centuries in an oven on hills. Not many people in the whole world could do that. He was still riding loop 2 strong with me until he dropped. He was carrying a few extra pounds of weight for batteries and cameras up all those hills. He told me that staying with the lead group had taken its toll because of how the DF group travels at a different rate up and down hills. We'll get more details when he does his race report. And he has video too. He was dreading his long drive home. I hope he stopped at a hotel for a good nap first. I know he was bummed out, but he deserves to feel like a champion.
 

SamP

Guru
These ultra-distance events--including the double centuries that Jason has been doing--and the riders doing them just amaze me. Cheers to all who attempt them and congrats to all who finish them!
 

RojoRacing

Donut Powered Wise-guy
These ultra-distance events--including the double centuries that Jason has been doing--and the riders doing them just amaze me. Cheers to all who attempt them and congrats to all who finish them!

I'll do a century or a double century or a 12hr any day of the week on a whim but a 24hr makes me hesitate no matter how many I complete. 24hr are not to be compared with anything shorter, they are a whole other type of beast. With that said I won't attempt to comprehend the gravity of the RAMM going on this week.

Anyone who can ride for 24hrs without sleep no matter how slow they go is a stud.
 

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Just reminder those RAAM guys are riding in support of Maria's charity.

The website https://3000milestoacure.com will Let you shout something encouraging to them for just $5.
Don't know about the rest you but I'll skip a couple star bucks this week so I can tell them to stop sand bagging the effort. :p
Ok well maybe it was something more encouraging than that:oops:

Having done it in past years; they'll send you a nice formal letter for your taxes as well.o_O
 
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Tigerpaw

Well-Known Member
Great job guys! Your efforts make my first 300k brevet (Summer Solstice this past weekend) look like mere child's play. Major kudos and respect to you folks!
 

JOSEPHWEISSERT

Zen MBB Master
Well, wonders never cease for CruzBikers. I got this email today:

Joe -

Congratulations! You are our Most Improved Male Rider for 2016. Your ride of 423.1 miles exceeds your previous average by 176.8 miles. It looks like your training really paid off.

All the best,
- Pete Steve, Registrar
- National 24-Hour Challenge
 

SamP

Guru
I'll do a century or a double century or a 12hr any day of the week on a whim but a 24hr makes me hesitate no matter how many I complete. 24hr are not to be compared with anything shorter, they are a whole other type of beast. With that said I won't attempt to comprehend the gravity of the RAMM going on this week.

Anyone who can ride for 24hrs without sleep no matter how slow they go is a stud.

I can see that, 24 hours you're negative on sleep, but the others are pretty normal awake times.
 
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