Eddie O

Genesis Adventures’ Churn & Burn 24 Hour
Ashford, CT Sept 10th & 11th 2005

What better way to follow up a 100 mile ride and end a vacation than a 24 hour race? The Churn & Burn 24 Hour was held on a short, fast and rocky 5.5 mile course at Brialee Campground in Ashford, CT. Ashford is about 45 minutes from the town I grew up in and another 20 minutes down the road is my brother’s place, so this was also a chance for me to catch up with old friends and see the family too.

Meeting up with old friends, at least my friends, is not the best preparation for a race. I won’t divulge any details, but let’s just say that a few adult beverages were consumed and I called it a night when the shots started getting poured. Mike & Bill, thanks for making this race just that much harder.

I also got to see my brother, Shaun, his wife Elaine, and his three beautiful daughters Casey, Kate and Ali. Casey took me for a ride to her middle school and around the neighborhood. Unfortunately I had to ride Shaun’s Huffy…I hope no one saw…which I think should be immediately replaced with his newfound interest in the sport of mountain biking.

Well, on to the race….

Friday, the night before:
Namrita and I set up camp, had dinner and hung out at the neighbors fire until bedtime. We made some new friends in Eric, Steve, Toby, Kevin, Donna, & Kim. Donna, Kim & Kevin were supporting Eric, Steve & Toby’s first solo attempt. They put in a respectable effort during the race despite making me jealous with the beer break by the camp fire and then retiring to their tents for a nap….. It was great meeting ya’all.

Laps 1-14 11:00 AM to 6:19 PM
We started at 11:00 AM with the usual Le Man’s style start. Thankfully it was short, as I still have not embraced this aspect of 24 hour racing yet. I was 5th or 6th into the woods and feeling pretty good. I didn’t know who was going to competition or even who was a solo racer, so I didn’t even pay attention anyone else and went about my work churning out laps. There was an 8 hour collegiate race going on concurrently and some of those kids were fast which kept me motivated. Namrita, Shaun, Casey and Steve did a great job of keeping me moving despite 3 bike changes and pit stops every 30 minutes. The bike changes where the result of one crash and one unraveling grip. Luckily Nam rides the same size Kona King Kikapu that I do, so while the fit is not perfect, it’s close enough to spend a few hours on it.

Laps 15-22 6:19PM to 1:26AM
I took a 10 minute pit to eat, change and don lights since I had a pretty solid lead with a lap on the field. The first few night laps are always fun. I really love night riding and once again the Light & Motion Arcs did a fantastic job. The course was very rocky and rooty for about 80% of it, which required a lot of concentration and good line picking. Using a pair of HID lights removes most of the shadows and makes it just as easy as if it was a day lap. Namrita reminded me a few times that I was not drinking or eating enough and I could only agree. Oddly anything with sugar was making me sick. I usually eat a lot of gels and use powered energy drink mixes for fuel during races, but for some reason this was not working. Later after examining the hydration pack bladders I was using I think I found the culprit, two of them were pretty funky. Luckily Nam scored some pizza and once I had that and half gallon of Gatorade I was laying out some good laps again.

Lap 23- 29 1:26AM to 6:02 AM
The problem with a lot of real food during a race is a constant full feeling, which is not contusive to feeling fast on a bike, especially on such a bumpy course. I ate mostly pb&js, but I also had some pasta, chicken and even a hotdog. I had some very slow laps during this period as a result. Not so much because I was riding slowly, but because my pit stops were slow. There were a few fast laps in there which help preserve my lead, but I had gone an hour ten at one point to just 15 minutes as the sun came up! Nothing is more motivating than having a race though.

Lap 30-36 6:02AM to 10:52AM
I had ridden a lap with David at some point during the night, so I knew who was in second place. Motivated by the knowledge of how easily I gave up such a big lead I was pushing a bit harder now and keeping the pit stops to a minimum. I still couldn’t eat or drink much, but we had ditched the hydration packs because of the funkiness and the fatigue that was killing my hands. The rough course was taking a huge toll on my hands and my handling skills. I didn’t crash, but I certainly wasn’t as smooth as I was in the early hours. My lead was slow gaining until I came through the pit at 9:43 and Nam told me David had just gone through 10 minutes ago. It took a minute for that bit of info to sink in, but then I shifted to the big ring and ignored all the pain. I hit a zone where nothing mattered except for catching him, lapping him and winning this race. I dug deep…no that’s too cliché. I became really aggressive; not in the sense that I was taking risks to gain time, but I was angry, I was raging. My blood was boiling; it was like he just made an obscene comment about my mom and I was going to make him pay for it. I often use this dark place to draw energy from when I am racing and training, but this was almost scaring me. I didn’t back off though. I ripped through sections that just the previous lap I was soft pedaling through and passing other riders with little more than a grunt. As I passed him he put his hand out for a high-five gesture that I returned and then a few minutes later that I realized he was not going to make a counter move it just turned off. I continued at a solid pace for another lap, but all the pain came flooding back in.

Results can be downloaded here.

I accomplished a few goals with this race. Winning is always good, especially at 24 hour races. I put in about 340 miles of mountain biking in 8 days, 300 of which were racing miles. Once I recover from this effort I should be stronger from it and be in good form to do well at the Conyers 24 hour in Oct. Despite the stomach issues I had a pretty consistent race and eliminated that dead spot I usually have during the early AM hours and I managed to stay motivated through all the dark hours.

I’d like to thank all of the following: Namrita for being so supportive and motivating, she was a one-person crew for most of this one. Casey O’Dea has a great future in bottle and gel delivery and could rival her southern cousins some day. Shaun O’Dea for arranging all of the equipment supplied by the Connecticut National Guard and your encouragement throughout the race. Elaine, Kate, & Ali O’Dea for their picture taking and cheering. SGT Steven Carpenter of the Connecticut National Guard for supplying the tent, table chairs and generator. And thank all of you for helping pack all the stuff up after while I wandered around quite uselessly. In addition I’d like to thank Maja from Adventure Sports Magazine who hooked Nam & I up with some cool swag. Fianlly I’d like the thank the Genesis Adventures team for a great race.

There lots more pictures in my gallery.

I’d also like to thank all my sponsors who have made this season such a success:

Mechanical & Product Support from Cartecay Bike Shop – Ellijay, GA

Bicycles & clothing from Kona

Supplements from GNC 5361 N Socrum Loop Rd, Lakeland, FL

Energy drinks from Source Drinks makers of BURN & BURN2

Nutritional & health advice from Dr. Jamie Brenon.

Massage from SMIT

Chiropractic Services from Dr. Josh Glass

More Product support and media exposure from Eastern Mountain Bike Racing

Addition Product Support from Chainwheel Drive Bike Shop in Clearwater & Palm Harbor, FL

Eddie O

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2005 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Race Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.