MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB

Dave was our strongest rider and would start the rotation.  Mike would go next to get in a few laps before dark with Rusty to follow.  I had a chance to ride the route the weekend before the race so was familiar with the course.  There were only five teams this year but something close to 20 solo riders.  #1 - LSU and #2 - Alabama are playing later this evening likely contributing to the lower turnout.  The teams started first with the solo riders following a minute or so behind.  Scott Kuppersmith and Kevin Connerly were among the solo riders who were going to push the pace and passed the team riders before the end of the lap.  From what I could tell, they pushed each other until the last bit of the race where Scott pulled ahead to win turning an incredible 21 laps!

Dave finished the first lap in 49 minutes giving us the lead by about 3 minutes over second place Easy Riders as Mike started his lap.  It was pretty clear that three of the teams, Easy Riders, The Swazey Express and Buckwheat would be pretty close with the lead shifting as different riders took the course.  Mike finished his lap about a minute behind Easy Riders with Rusty charging out of transition.  Rusty finished his lap in 55 minutes putting us back in first as I started my initial lap.  I pushed pretty hard and finish around 55 minutes but was already start to cramp a bit.  We continue to lead the race over the next several laps, sometimes by minutes and other time by just a few seconds.  Dave is killing it and knocks out a 47 minutes lap on his second time around which I think was the fastest lap turned by any of the teams. 

I start the team's 8th lap (my 2nd) around 6:30 PM in the dark with a 5 minute lead on Swazey Express.  I like riding in the dark but the laps are always a bit harder.  I ride conservative and I brake more and carry less momentum at night which means a lot more effort climbing.  On this lap, I managed to find a few more roots that didn't seem to be there before.  We are still in the lead when I am done but now by just 3 minutes on Swazey and only 8 minutes in front of Easy Riders.  Dave doesn't let up much on the night laps finishing his first lap in the dark in 52 minutes pushing our cushion to 8 minutes on second place after lap 9.

Mike's first night lap was a little long.  He was having some problems holding his power output on the climbs and lost quite a bit of time.  By the time Rusty started the next lap for the team, we were in third place 8 minutes behind Swazey Express and 3 minutes behind Easy Riders.  Rusty moves us into a three man rotation through the night while Mike tried to recover a bit. 

We always make it a point as a team to be ready at the trailhead area early so we don't lose any time in transition.  We keep this up with the three man rotation but it does mean sleep will come in short 20 - 30 minutes increments.  It also means that we don't have much time hanging out around the camp with other guys on the team.  About the time Dave is getting back, I am getting ready to start heading up to transition.  As I am getting back to camp, Rusty is about ready to head out.  I also don't hang around much at the trailhead after I finish laps so it is hard to know details with the race.  Rosanne is keeping us all on schedule and posted on times.  I do remember sometime after midnight Dave telling me he passed Swazey Express when their guy was having some light problems putting us in first.  Looking back at the results sheet, this was after lap 14.

We keep turning laps through the night and appear to be increasing our lead.  I start our team's 18th lap just before 5 AM "race time" with something like a 15 minute lead on second place Swazey Express and almost an hour on Easy Riders.  The lack of sleep is starting to get to me a bit.  I can tell my mind drifts on occasion and I find my reflexes are sometimes slowing.  There are still a few steep sections of the course that sneak up on me and I worry sometimes about breaking a chain or something as I try to power over them.  I know something like that in the dark would cost a bunch of time repairing it.  We talked after the race about the crazy things going through our head while riding the course.  Dave said he notice the same rock on the trail every lap.  For me, check point 3 stood out the most.  I reached it every lap and heard the oil derrick with mixed feelings.  On one hand it meant that there were less than two miles left but that final section always seems to hurt the worst.  I certainly appreciated the encouragement coming from folks manning the different check points.  

I return to camp from our 18th lap and Rusty brings me up to speed on the race.  We have moved way in front of Swazey Express and are getting close to lapping Easy Riders.  From what I heard later, Swazey's rider that started after me had some problems early on where he felt like he was going to blackout and got off the bike.  He lost a lot of time before heading back to the transition to get another rider to complete the lap.  I think Dave said he passed him coming in on the way out on his lap.  They would drop down into third place by the end of that lap but thankfully he would be OK.

I got some good rest while Dave was still out killing it on the trail.  He finally decided to take it easy on his last night lap since it looked like our lead would hold doing it in 59 minutes (all of his other night laps were under 55 minutes).  Mike is now up and feeling better and he will jump back in the rotation after I complete my next lap.

It is daylight as I take my turn doing the team's 21st lap.  The unseen obstacles that grabbed at my wheels on the night laps are now more clearly visible and easier to negotiate.  I feel pretty good but the hills seem to be getting steeper and steeper.  I hadn't walked any yet but was talking with Josh Rivet of Easy Riders before my start about how it would likely be faster to walk up some of them at this point instead of riding them.  That thought is really going through my mind as I pass through check point 3.  I head up the last hill before the road back to transition and am really digging.  I look up and see Rosanne holding a camera at the top and pride keeps me on the bike crawling out of the woods.  Mike is waiting at the trailhead to start our 22nd lap as my time on the course is done.

Jason coming out of the woods on his last lap

and still a blur as he heads to the transition

 

Mike finishes his lap and Dave takes off to finish his last lap.  Mike is feeling good enough that he can do another lap if Dave gets back before 11 AM "race time" allowing us to send off another rider.  24 laps in 24 hours is a nice round number.  It will be close as Dave needs to be under 55 minutes to make the cutoff.  Dave turns it in 53 minutes and Mike is able to complete our 24th lap at an easy pace.  Easy Riders and The Swazey Express are both able to complete 22 laps but Easy Rider finishes 13 minutes faster for second place.

Dave was certainly the Buckwheat superstar.  With this event, it is always a team effort which leads to success and Mike stepping up at the last minute to even agree to race was big as was Rosanne handling logistics so we could just focus on racing.

I have really enjoyed this event and appreciate the amount of work it must take to prepare for it as well as man it.  Unfortunately Brian announced before the start that it would be the last 24 Hours of Clear Spring race but likely replaced by some type of other epic event.

Team Buckwheat - 1st place podium - Mike, Jason, Rusty and Dave