2004 24 HOA Solo World Championships
I have never been so focused on a single task in my life. I hired a coach & trained specifically for 3 months. I worked with a chiropractor and massage therapist to keep my parts in working order. I ate and drank for the sole purpose of fueling myself for the next workout. I set my work and sleep schedules around my training sessions. I lived and breathed for this event for 3 months.
The day finally came. I stood on the starting line with 165 other athletes anxiously waiting for the horn to blow. It blew, we ran and then we rode.
The course was everything it should have been. It had a little of everything and a lot of climbing. There was fast open parts that seemed so easy early on, technical sections with rocks and wet roots, steep climbs that left your legs begging for the end to come, fire roads to pass on, switchbacks, and even some stuff I just couldn’t ride at all. The climbing is what still stands out in my mind. The promoters claimed 1500 feet per 12 mile lap, but my HRM recorded closer to 2000. Which ever is right, it was brutal. Most of the elevation gain came toward the end of the lap and the final climbs were wide open, steep and long. This leads to one of the narliest descents I have ever raced (and that was my assessment after the first lap, never mind in the middle of the night).
The run wasn’t too bad this time. It’s still my least favorite part, but it does it’s job of separating the crowd. I set a steady pace, put in a little sprint at the end and got to my bike mid-pack. This was followed by a short parade lap to spread us out a little further. I was in the top 30 or so until I dropped my chain on a first steep climb. I set it back on the ring and carried on. The pace was fast to start, but I was comfortable with it. I was picking riders off one-by-one until about 3 miles in where I was suddenly pedaling with one foot. My pedal had come right out of my crank arm. I was in a panic as what seemed like 20 riders when by. A couple of minutes later I was riding again. Again I was picking riders off when my chain dropped when I shifted up to the big ring. I was getting annoyed now. I limited my shifting for the rest of the lap while I put the hammer down. First lap with the run & parade loop: 1:13.
I switch bikes from my hardtail, which I wanted for it’s lightness the first lap, (I would have ran it a few more lapsif it wasn’t for the mechanicals) for the Specialized Epic full suspension which I needed if I was going to survive 24 hours on this course. I set off with pockets full of food and hopes of no more mechanical problems. I continued to pass many riders and set a nice pace for myself. This was my 4th time around the course including my prerides the two days prior and I was starting to get into a groove. I started to find the places I could carry momentum and minimize my efforts. Unfortunately I was still a little angry about that first lap and buzzing on adrenaline that I didn’t notice I was digging a little too deep in some sections. Toward the end of the lap I noticed my left cleat was very loose. I could feel the gap open up under my foot every time I lifted the pedal. I set a steady cadence and tried not to pull to hard on the up stroke. Second lap: 1:05.
Once I got my cleat tightened back up I was off again. More food, more hopes of no more mechanicals. I was calming down now and setting a good pace. The nervousness of the first lap was now gone and I was focused on keeping a steady pace. Still I was ignoring the times when I had to dig a little to clear a hill or power through a technical spot. I was wasting energy I would need later, but those thoughts didn’t enter my mind. I was looking to the rider ahead of me and closing gap. I ate & drank a lot on this lap. A bottle of energy drink, two Carb-Boom gels, Honeystinger bar and a half of PB&J . I crashed, endoed actually, on a set of four steps at the end of this lap and broke a brake cable housing. I didn’t get hurt, but I wouldn’t ride them again. Third lap: 1:08.
I switched bikes again so my pit crew could fix the cable. My pit crew consisted of my mom, dad, Michael “Kiwi” O’Dea, and Richard Walker. They are awesome. They took the Epic and sent me on my way. Michael was yelling something about slowing it down a bit. I rode away. I was cruising again. I moved from 28th after the first lap to 14th by the end of this one. I was feeling great and cleaning almost everything. I was really getting into a groove. I even tried to smile for some of the pictures my parents were taking. I don’t know if that worked or not, but I tried. Again I ate a lot. For the second lap in a row I ate over 600 calories. 500 is usually my limit during a ride, but I tried to eat everything the crew put in front of me. Just before the last climb Michael or Richard would wait on the side of the trail with some food and water. This time I finally got an oatmeal creme pie (Mmmmm OCPs). I love these things and they are packed with calories. Fourth lap: 1:12.
Again Michael was on me about the pace. Again I ignored him. I think the pace was OK. Maybe I should have been a bit slower or walked on some of the steeper climbs since I was still trying to clean everything and keep the pace up, but I still felt great. I was back on the Epic after hear funny noises in the free hub of my hardtail. No more mechanicals. I made a concentrated effort to keep on heart rate down this time. I was much more aware of it than in the previous 4 laps and even backed off when it would get too close to the red line. You only get so many matches to burn before you are on the side of the trail watching the moths land on your head light. I didn’t want to be there again, but I also wanted to make sure I was giving my best effort. Chris Eatough, now the 5 time winner of this event, lapped me the first of many times. I was lapped in my 5th lap! That is completely humbling. As some might guess, I think I am pretty strong rider, but he tooled by me like I was going backward with a headwind. 2nd placed Tinker Juarez didn’t even lap me for another hour. Anyway, toward the end of the lap I started getting side stitches. Those cramps you get from swimming too soon after eating even though your mom told you not to. I was paying for all that food I ate. I had to back off a bit on the last two climbs. Fifth lap: 1:11.
Lights on the bike for this lap. I didn’t like the idea it was about to be dark already. Back home in Atlanta the sun didn’t set until 8:15, but here it was closer to 7:30 and once it dropped behind the mountains to the west it was dark real fast. I continued to watch my heart rate closely and regulate my pace accordingly. Parts of the course were getting pretty chewed up after 6 hours of racing. Most of the course was not effected even after 24 hours, but the technical parts where getting more technical. Some of it seemed safer to walk at this point. I did most of this lap with Bob Anderson, the guy that won the BURN 24 back in May. It was nice to have someone to talk to for a little while. Tinker even joined us for a bit before finally pulling out of sight. I was rewarded with another OCP for my efforts and rolled back into the pits just before dark. Sixth lap: 1:22.
Leaving the pit area the course dropped about 400 ft straight down the ski run toward the main village. Early on this was a lot of fun. Straight, wide open and fast. I’m sure I hit 30 mph on each run. There were some 6 ft wide water bars covered with plywood every 75 ft or so. If you were really brave you could catch some serious air off of them. I am not really brave. Like I said, early on this was fun. As the sun set and the heat dissipated the fun went with it. One mile from the bottom of that drop the course climbs again. It wasn’t until here that I began to warm up again. At this point in the race the cold didn’t really bother me. I was still feeling good enough to make all the climbs and in doing so I kept myself warm. I was pretty sweaty though and need some fresh clothes. Seventh lap: 1:19
Even with fresh clothes the cold cut right through me on that first drop. I raced as fast as I could for the next climb. I ran into Liam O’Dea at the base of it. We met just before the start. He is from Australia and came over with his wife. Real nice guy, too bad I missed him afterward to get some contact info. I bet my parents know how to get in touch with him, as they seem to have met some relation of every O’Dea on the planet. We rode together for a couple miles, but I was climbing a bit faster. We were now in the 8th hour. This is when the race usually begins for real. The first 8 hours is just a warm up for the rest. The plan was to get myself into descent position and stay consistent throughout the night. Then the others would fade through the night and I would move up. I was in 14th so, my position was good. Now if I could just stay consistent. Eighth lap:1:32.
I began doing lap math. This is where I start dividing the time left in the race by my current lap time to see how many I could still do. My goal before the preride was 20. My goal after the preride was 18. At my current rate I could still make it, but it was getting close. This was actually making me angry. Maybe it was the cold or the fact that I know I don’t preform well in it. Maybe it was because I couldn’t control it. I trained all summer in Atlanta with days in the 80s and 90s and 80% humidity. Here in Whistler it was 45 with no humidity. Sometimes anger is a great motivator, but even motivation wasn’t going to keep me warm. I knew I would need a lot more clothing than planned. Nineth lap: 1:42.
My mom & dad were done for the night, but fortunately they dried some of my clothes so I could reuse them later. The need for warmth far out weights the need for fresh smelling clothes. I took some fresh batteries for my lights. I’m running Light & Motion ARC Li-Ions. I can’t say enough good things about these guys. The products are great, but the service and support are the key. They are phone call away with any help I need and never balk at doing the little extra things to make sure you get to the race with everything you need. Anyway, back to the race. I’m riding well, clearing the technical parts and making the climbs. A lot of people are walking the last one, but I was still spinning away. Mostly to keep warm because it’s high up on the mountain with no trees to protect you from the wind. Tenth lap: 1:37.
Another change of clothes and an Aussie meat pie (these things are great!). This time I had 4 layers on my chest, my winter gloves, shorts, fleece lined tights and shoe covers. I still froze on that first drop. I shivered until a 100 yards into the next climb. Shivering is a waste of energy. Wasting energy is not something I should be doing half way through a 24 hour race, but there was nothing I can do about it. I can only hope it’s effecting everyone else. Maybe everyone else is from the Caribbean and even less acclimated than I? That wasn’t the case. I was slowly losing places. I wasn’t happy about that, but my previous couple of laps had been consistent and my pit times weren’t too long. They were longer than during the day, since I was either changing clothes or lights, but still not bad. Half way through this lap I realized I was in trouble. My average heart rate was dropping rapidly. It usually drops as the race goes on, but I couldn’t even hit 125 with my hardest efforts. I can’t produce much power with that low of a heart rate. All I could hope for now was sunshine. If I could make it through the night, I might be able to pull it back together when it warms back up. Eleventh lap: 2:03.
I was in and out of the pit in less than a minute. Richard and Michael shoved food in my pockets and drinks in my cages and pushed me away before I could protest. It worked though. I wasn’t nearly as cold on that first descent. I don’t think I was even shivering. It helped tremendously mentally. Even though my heart rate was bombing I was still riding 90% of the course. I was determined to ride through the night. I was pretty alone on this lap. I didn’t pass many and few passed me. The course marshals where so bundled up in sleeping bags you couldn’t see their faces. You wouldn’t even know there was really somebody in there except for the voice yelling “What’s you number?” Twelfth lap: 1:45.
Another change of clothes with 5 layers on top including a fleece pull-over. I even shoved a newspaper up my jersey to cover my chest. It worked well, but about 2 miles later I was over heating and had to peel some layers off. My heart rate was at a steady 110 bpm. I had no power at all. I tried to carry my moment through every turn and down every hill, but I just couldn’t make my legs go. The sun was beginning to rise now, but the temps did not. Spectators were beginning to come out as well. This was encouraging after last couple of laps where I had hardly even saw any other racers. I continued to spin up most of he hills, but now my knees began to hurt. It was a sharp pain just under the lower side of my kneecaps. Every pedal stroke now hurt and for the first time in the race I had to walk part of the last two climbs. The sun was up and knew I wouldn’t recover and my lap times would only get slower. Thirteenth lap: 2:22.
This would be my last lap, though I didn’t know it at the time. I headed out without a few of the layers I had on for the previous lap. I rolled down the big hill, along the river and into the first climb. I couldn’t pedal any more. My knees hurt too much. I climbed off and walked up. I’d roll down a hill and then step off and walk up. About 2.5 miles in I came across a female competitor with her chain stuck behind the cassette. Any excuse to take a break! I stopped and helped get it out. She kindly thanked me and sped off . I walked on. I made it over to the final climb where Michael was waiting for me. He must have been there a while. It took me over two hours to get to this point. I was done. I knew I didn’t have the time or the energy to do another lap, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself or anyone else just yet. I drank a BURN, ate a banana, and trudged on. Another twenty minutes later I was quarter mile from the finish. Michael met me there. We both knew I was done and based on the two and half hours it took me to do this current lap I most likely wouldn’t make the 1 PM cut off for the final lap. My mom and Richard showed up and I sat in the car for a few minutes. Finally I rolled through the start/finish for the last time at about 10:40. Fourteenth lap: 2:47.
I stripped down to my shorts and climbed into my parents car. My mom drove me down to the condo. The first thing I did was get in the jacuzzi. Oh to finally be warm again. I soaked in there for ten minutes then headed for the shower for more glorious hot water. I drank a liter of water and a BURN and headed back to the race. We stopped at the Aussie meat pie place for 5 pies of which I ate 3. When got back to the pits Michael & Richard were already packed up and gone, so we headed back to the condo were I fell asleep. Richard & Michael went back later to turn in my baton, so the race officials didn’t send out the search crew. I woke up about 3 hours later too hungry to sleep. I ate another half of a meat pie and a pizza. Then I soaked in an ice bath for while. It helped a bit with the soreness, but just a little bit. I crawled back in bed, this time for 11 hours.
That’s it. I finished 25th in the Elite Class with 14 laps, 168 miles and about 21,000 ft of climbing. It’s taken me the last twenty days to really recover from this race. I spent the following week riding in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. It wasn’t the best way to recover physically, but it gave me some time to just have some fun and not think about racing. By the time I was heading home, I was thinking about the Conyers 24 hour in Oct.
I am still a littled disappointed in my performance. My coach, Josh, and I talked about it for a few hours. He was impressed with my first crack at the big times. He identified a few mistakes like going anaerobic to often early on and wasting energy that I’d need later, but on the other hand I did eat well and maintained a good pace for the first 10 hours. There is nothing I can do about the weather and if I keep saying it maybe I’ll feel a little better about it.
I am back in training for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, GA. This was the site of the first ever Olympic mountain bike race in 1996. Since the course is only 30 miles from home I can get some very specific training in, so I won’t have any surprises come race day. Physically I am starting to feel my strength coming back. I did the Six Gap century last Sunday, which is a 100 mile road ride in the mountains. I didn’t even come close to any personal records, but I felt good throughout and finished strong. Mentally I am very hungry for this one. I want to prove to myself that my lack of performance at the Worlds was due to the weather and nothing else. Conyers may be cold in mid October, but I doubt it will be as cold as Whistler was.
I want to thank:
My Mom & Dad for coming out to Whistler to support me. I love you both.
Michael O’Dea for all the support, encouragement and criticism. I need to hear it all. BTW - great trip afterward.
Richard Walker for another great race. I should thank your wife too for letting you come. You rock and I am indebted to you.
Charlie Martin for your hard work and expertise in all things cycling.
Josh Seldman for keeping me focused, confident and riding like I never have before.
The crew at Chainwheel Drive for always believing in me. Thanks Brian.
Kevin Jakopovic for your moral & financial support.
Rebecca Leeb for all your encouragement this year.
Dr. Jamie Brennon for all the expert advice and looking into all the wonder suppliments I send you.
Dr. Steve Lascala for keeping my parts in working order.
John Zambon for all his efforts in creating www.eddieodea.com.
…and to all of you for your encouragement. It is incredibly motivating to know someone is rooting for you. Thanks.
I’d be writing everyone about my ride around the block instead of going to the World Championships if it wasn’t for my sponsors. Check them out:
BURN Energy Drinks http://www.sourcedrinks.com
Cartecay River Bike Shop http://http://cartecaybikes.com/
Specialized Bicycles http://www.specialized.com
Carb-Boom http://carb-boom.com
SRAM Components http://sram.com/
Light & Motion http://lightandmotion.com/
Chainwheel Drive Bicycles http://chainwheeldrive.com
Titec http://www.titec.com
GNC of Lakeland, FL http://gnc.com
Dr. Jamie Brenon
Honey Stinger Bars http://honeystinger.com
The pictures are over here: http://eddieodea.com/pix/gallery/
Thanks,
Eddie O