8 Hours of Adrenaline

This past weekend the team traveled, with the 24 Hours of Adrenaline crew, up to Hurkey Creek for this year's second installment of their 24 Hour mt. bike race.
In the months leading up to this race we trained religiously. It was going to be our goal to break the record of 31 laps for this course. We even recruiting two other local riders, Matt Freeman and Allan Laframboise. Both have serious talent on a bike! As race day drew closer, we found out that the Southern California Cross Country Championships were on the Sunday the the 24 HOA was ending. That mean that Matt, who is a Pro mt. bike racer, was committed to that race. After some discussion with the rest of the team, it was decided that each man would fend for himself in the 8-hour solo event.

While the guys diligently trained I decided that I was going to serve as the pit crew for this race. I had been training for the sole purpose of training and realized that I wasn't having much fun riding the bike anymore. Every ride was geared towards pushing the limit, competing (normally unspoken competition) with anyone I was riding with. If I was having trouble going out for "fun" rides there was no way I would have the motivation to get out and race. I have to admit, I took a week off before the guys went to race, on race day I was slightly jealous that I wasn't riding with them. In the end I believe it was the right decision.

We had hoped to have our own custom Team Perpetual jerseys designed for this race, but the design work fell apart a few months ago and we haven't had the time to get it back on track. Justin, being the resourceful guy that he is, was able to get a local club to sponsor our team for this race. The boys were to race in the red and white kits of Team Possabilities (from left to right: Justin, Landon, and Ben). Team Possabilities (www.teampossabilities.org) is based out of Loma Linda, CA and shares a very similar message to our team, so they were a logical choice for us to ride for.

Race Day:
I arrived at Justin and Landon's house at 7:00am, ready to join them on their new adventure. Ben arrived shortly after me. We loaded all the bikes and gear into Justin's pickup and headed up to Idyllwild. After an hour drive we were at the park and the guys were itching to get their bikes setup and ready to go. We setup the Team Possabilities easy-up and a table with information for those wanting to know more about the cause. The easy-up served double as a sun shade and a bike stand. We all wore the Possabilities green wrist bands and passed them out to interested parties.

Justin and Landon were both sporting their newly built Turner Bikes. Landon was on a 2010 Turner Sultan and Justin was sporting his new 2010 Turner Flux. Graciously, Turner Bikes (www.turnerbikes.com) has sponsored the team with a very nice deal on their new frames and Ready to Race (RTR) bike shop in Anchorage, AK gave an equally good offering for components. Both bikes were built a mere 2 weeks prior to the race and neither had much time to ride them. Landon felt right at home on his Sultan since he was previously running a 2009 Sultan. Justin, on the other hand, was having a little trouble getting used to the geometry changes from his 2009 Turner 5 Spot and his new ride. Rumor has it that Ben will be building up a 2010 Turner Sultan in the coming months.

While the guys were prepping for the race, I served as team mom. Running through the mental checklist of items they might need. Grilling each rider about tubes, air, nutrition, water bottles, lights... the works! At the same time I was preparing as many water bottles as possible with Hammer Perpetuem and Heed to aid in nutrition for the race. Nutrition and hydration would be crucial as the temp was near the mid 90's at the start of the race. Finally, bikes were ready to ride, lights were on standby for the night laps, water bottles were filled, Possabilities kits were on, and the guys headed to the start/finish line.

The countdown was on: 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Bang! They were off. It was now 12:00 pm and the cutoff for the 8 hour class was 8:30 pm. That means mostly day laps and at least one night lap with potential for a partial and a full night lap.

Landon took off to his normal high paced Le Mans start. Justin was close behind, but sitting in because it was going to be a long day on the bike. Ben, who had just come down to Loma Linda about a week before and was doing the race cold turkey, wasn't far behind the other two. For some reason the Le Mans start took place on mostly paved roads. The running course made a half mile loop around the start/finish area where the runners would find their bikes on a rack. Those that were smart leaned their bikes on the end of the rack or on the fence surrounding the transition area.

After the gun went off, and I watched each of the guys ride off, I hustled over to the final technical downhill to take some pictures of the guys on the course. Landon was running 4th overall after 3/4 of a lap, Justin was probably 30 seconds behind him. Oddly, Justin's rear wheel had fallen off in the 100' of a 10 mile course that I could see. Somehow his QR skewer had come undone and his rear wheel had come out of the dropouts and was sitting on the derailleur hanger. With no damage done, he was able to put the wheel back on and continue. Ben, not having the luxury of riding the course prior to the race, was comfortably riding in a group about 10 minutes behind the other two.














After the initial sighting of the 3 guys I went on to various parts of the course and took photos of them as they came by. It was my plan to take photos for the first 3 laps, then head back to the team pit and check the food/water situation. During the second lap I caught Landon and Justin, running mere minutes apart, right before the Hurkey Creek climb.

I was able to make it up a portion of the Hurkey Creek climb to take some pictures of Ben as was grinding his way to the top. Every time Ben passed me there was a look of determination on his face. His iron will to keep his legs moving is something that can't be taught.

I waited for 10-15 minutes for Justin, after I had seen Landon finish the road section, to pass. After some time of waiting I figured he'd flatted or had some sort of mechanical. I headed back to the team pit in order to setup tools and spare parts in case Justin's Flux was in need of some work. After some anxious moments waiting, Justin finally rolled into camp. Immediately, I realized that it wasn't the bike, at least not anymore. It turns out Justin's rear wheel, which had fallen out earlier in the race, was not square in the dropouts, thus causing his brake to rub. He was able to get the wheel on straight, but the physical damage to the legs was already setting in. He was dehydrated from the extreme heat and his was in the middle of bonking. You can almost feel his pain through his expressions below! He was in dire need of liquids and food. I passed him a sandwich and as many bottles as he could drink. I also noticed that he hadn't touched his Hammer Gel flask. After 10 minutes of relaxing and a stern talking to (regarding eating and drinking) Justin was back on his way.

One by one the guys pulled into the pit between laps. All 3 of them were suffering from the same symptoms; dehydration and bonking. Oddly, having been the least physically prepared, Ben was always in the highest spirits and appeared the most energetic. He wanted to just keep going. He was slowly forcing food down between laps and he made sure to keep drinking liquids. On the course he wasn't pushing the pace, but keeping exertion at a comfortable level. In turn, he was able to spend the least amount of time in the pits and the most time on the bike. He will be a force to be reckoned with once he has spent a few months training with the team!

As the hours wore on, night drew near and the race for first place was getting close. Landon had been leading the category since the first lap... probably since the Le Mans start. Another rider was in hot pursuit and seemed to be slowly closing the gap lap after lap. The transition between the 7th and 8th laps would probably be the quickest since the first few laps. Mike and Dave had showed up by this point so we prepared everything that Landon would need. A Starbucks Doubleshot for some good sugar/caffeine to get him through the last lap, helmet with light mounted, and handlebar mount light. As he pulled into the pits for the final time that night, we didn't let him off the bike. After a short time of mounting lights, switching helmets, and drinking some fluids Landon was headed out for his last lap.

Ben was the last of the group to come in for his light. He showed up with about 1:35 left in the race. At the pace he had been going that was more than enough time to complete his 7th lap. I think at this point he had surpassed any expectations that he, or anyone else, had for him. As he readied his gear for the night ride we found out that the batter for his light was dead (it had been charged, but it wasn't holding). Ben, instead of calling the day a success and stopping, pulled out a backpacking headlamp and charged into the night. Effectively, Ben was riding blind on the trail!

Landon won the 8 hour solo category by more than 15 minutes. In his last lap he was able to gain about 10 minutes on the second place rider. Justin pulled a very respectable 5th place after almost calling it 3 laps in. He completed 7 laps. Ben officially finished 6 laps and came in 9th out of 42 riders in the category. A lack of light cost him finishing his 7th lap before the 8:30pm cutoff, he missed the cut by mere minutes. We give him 7 laps.


There have been very few days in my life that I haven't gone out to compete when given the opportunity. I have to admit that being on this side of a race was a completely new experience. When you're competing you rarely see the emotional and physical duress that people endure, and you can't see the changes in yourself until it's too late. You're caught up in your race, your focus is your goal. This past weekend, all three guys showed a vast range of emotion. From ecstatic to go and race to wanting to quit because they didn't think they could take the pain any longer. In the end, you realize that the mind has full control over the body. As long as your mind stays in check you can keep pushing when you think you've reached your limit.

I was recently asked if I thought I could have beat Landon in the 8 hour race. It was an interesting question and slightly loaded since he was listening in on the conversation. I realize that looking in from my perspective on the race I could have done many things different. Forced myself to eat, made sure I was hydrated... the list goes on. Bottom line, I have no idea what would have happened since my experience was from the outside looking in. I can't judge how I would have done without doing it myself. Personally, I think I could have given Landon a run for his money, but like the second place finisher found out the hard way, September 19 was Landon's day to shine.


More shots from the day...