It rained. And then it rained. And then it poured. And then it rained a little more. And then it was over.
The 24 hours of Great Glen was quite an experience. It was my closest recent physical experience to double sessions during my football days which ended in 1997. The race began at noon on Saturday, and ended at noon on Sunday. It began raining at 1 pm on Saturday and stopped at 11 am on Sunday. I rode the 8 mile loop three times during that period. The 2:30pm lap was very wet with occasional downpours and a trail system that had already seen approximately 300 bike riders in the 2 and 1/2 hours before I hit it. The mud was thick, deep, and plentiful. I pushed the bike for approximately 40% of the distance (60% of the time). I flatted approximately 2/3 of the way through. It was my rear wheel, which has no quick-release because the bike is a single speed. I lost approximately 10 minutes running with the bike and then changing the tube. After slipping and sliding down The Plunge on my back and knees I finished witha time of 1:15 for the lap. Our team was doing pretty well considering. Our lap times dropped when the sun went down. I had assumed that all of the teams would have the same issues, but the winning team Operation Enduring Sufferation did 50 minute laps in the middle of the night! They are nuts and I used to work with Tom (Guiness shirt, on the left) at Ace Wheelworks in Somerville. We went riding at Lynn Woods with Wilks during the summer of 2000. He kicked ass then too. Congratulations! My next lap was my first night riding experience. You can best visualize the experience by re-reading my description of the first lap and taking away the light of the sun. It took me about 1 1/2 hours. I will ride at night again, but not at night in the rain on a muddy course. After the second lap I relaxed for a few minutes and cleaned off in the rapidly rising river next to the campsite. Due to the heavy rains there was speculation as to how high the river would crest above it's banks. No lives were lost when it rose three feet in 4 hours. After cleaning the sand and mud from my person I went to sleep. as a team we sort of fell down on the job about making quick lap changes during the night. Instead of waiting at the timing tent for the incoming rider, I waiting in my jammies in my sleeping bag in my own tent and lost about 15 minutes changing into already wet riding gear. I began my third lap at about 5am finishing at 7am. During the lap I thought about what boot camp must be like. Tired, wet, sore, cuts and scrapes on my shins from the pedals, rocks, and roots. I figured that this must be like the march to a battle. The difference being that I was free to sit around and relax when I got to the finish, but a soldier had to then take out a gun and shoot people. I don't think I could be a soldier. It was nice to ride with the sun rising over the mountains, though. Our team ended up riding 16 laps in just over 24 hours. Dr. Hasan Duymazlak ("Dewey") rode four laps while the rest of us rode three each. It was an experience that will haunt my dreams. Kate knows about this because I fell asleep in the car on the way home and startled myself awake trying to grab ahandful of rear brake as I rode over a root in my dreams. The race affected my mind. You can look at www.shellmer.com for some photos fo the event. If you notice a rider with a yellow number, understand that they rode ALONE for 24 hours. No teammates, no rest, no help. I clapped as loud as I could when I saw them.