24 Hours of Conyers - Late post
The first 24 hours of Conyers was a hot one, well into the 90s, and making mother nature the competition for the day….well, her and Ernesto, but I had a better chance with her.
We have a new game in town. Granny Gear Productions did a great job putting on the race, but not getting the crowds out to enjoy it. With only 7 of us Solo Men, 5 ladies and a hand full of teams there were some very quiet times out there but still it was enjoyable.
My pit crew was the lovely Namrita, the always there to lend a hand cousin Ryan and his wife to be Jen. Jen, I am sure, had never been to a mountain bike race before and surely never a 24 hour. She’s pretty quiet, but she probably thinks we are all nuts. Oh, Jackson & Porter were there too. Porter took naps for me and Jackson inspired me with 25 hour of ball fetching. He was still chasing that thing at noon on Sunday. Richard was planning to come up from St Pete, but he had a splinter in his finger or some like medical catastrophe (Get well soon buddy 
The first lap was blazing. Some solo guy from Maine took the early lead into the trail after the run and set the race’s fastest lap. I actually had to run in after getting a slow leaker in the front tire on the last descent of the course, but still managed to pull a 44 min lap…just a two minutes of first and a minute down from Ernie Marenchin. He won here back in Oct and would be the guy to watch again.
The next couple of laps were just as fast, but with no more mechanical issues I was able to settle into a comfortable pace. We continued to average about 45 minutes a lap, which I knew from the previous weeks of training rides on this course was just about as fast as I could handle and not redline. The guy from Maine blew from his early efforts, but Ernesto remained elusive. I would see him on occasion where the trail looped back on itself, but the gap never closed.
By 3:30 Pm or so I knew I had to back off because of the heat. The pace was fine, I was riding smoothly, but when we hit the granite side of the course the heat just radiated. Namrita must have noticed the effect the heat was having on me because she produced a small towel dipped in ice water for me to wear around my neck. She had one ready at the pit and then again half way through the course. This helped a ton and along with the ice water in my Wingnut Assault I managed to not get completely cooked out there.
I don’t remember what time it was, but my parents showed up before dark. That was very cool. They are on their way north for the summer and changed up their plans to swing through GA to catch the race. It helped to have some more moral support since there was so few racing. They stuck around until after dark and then returned in the morning.
The sun set, I was in second, Ernie was leading and the guy from Maine was in third. I could tell Ernie had pulled away a bit more because his pit guy was no longer in his familiar spot timing the gap, but instead already walking back to the pit. I figured “at least he’s not back at the pit napping yet…”
I had two bikes with me, my 06 Kona King and newly rebuilt 04 Kona King Kikapu. I had set the Kikapu up with a new 100 mm Fox Talas, new shock bearings , new drive train including rear der, and basically stripped it down regrease everything and rebuilt it…..we’ll I did most of it, my friend Charlie Martin finished putting together and tuned the drive for me. The thing that did not change on the Kikapu was the position. The on the 06 King, I’m over the pedals and sitting very upright. On the 04 Kikapu my position is how I left prior to all of my knee issue at the beginning of the year, which is with my saddle way back behind the cranks. I switched bikes a couple times to fix some minor issue and at first I didn’t really notice the difference that much, but after 3 or 4 laps on the Kikapu I knew that I could not continue on the bike.
Around midnight I could hardly take a deep breath without all the little muscles throughout my chest hurting. I believe this was due to the position of the Kikapu. The saddle was too far back and the reach to the handle bars made me really bend at the waist. This limited the movement of my diaphragm, forcing me to breath from my chest rather than my belly, which exactly the opposite of what I had been training to do. By the time I made the connection between the breathing issue and the bike I was already hurting.
I planned to use the King for most of the race anyway because the Fox RP3 shock and extra half inch (4 ) is much more forgiving on the granite. I could make the shock less firm as I hit the second half of the lap and gain some comfort on the descents as well as traction on the climbs. So after a short break to eat pizza in the pit I was back at, but having to go very easy on climbs to control my breathing. I was OK as long as I focused in breathing only with my belly, otherwise the ache in my chest back to remind me relax and focus.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful. There were not crazy, drunken guys painted red chanting and drumming, no weirdos wishing “the force” to be with me, not even a check point with volunteers to tell “you’re almost done” event though I know there is still 10 hours left. We did have few cops on cell phones and a volunteer dude who seemed to be at the lower road crossing for 20 of the 24 hours. The only drama came on my last dark lap when I skipped stopping in the pit because Nam was sleeping and Ryan must have off checking on charging batteries. Both of my batteries ran dead (no fault to the Light & Motion lights, they had been running for about 4 hours) and since there was no one else out there to follow I walked more than I should have. Luckily it was about 6 AM and the sun was on it’s way up.
So the sun came up just as it went down, Ernie was leading, I was in second and the guy from Maine was in third. The only difference was the number of laps between us. Ernie now had two laps on me and I had three on Mr Maine. (I really should look up this guy’s name, but I’m on a plane to Boise right now.) I have to thank Bruce Dickman for the Micky D’s breakfast two races in a row…someone snapped what must have been a good shot of me shoving an egg McMuffin in my face while riding through the timing tent.
Around 9:00 AM I stopped into the pit, downed another BURN Energy Drink, ate the last slice of the pizza I had been eating all night and rolled out slowly knowing Ernie was coming around to pass me again…why fight it. He caught me about a mile in and rode the rest of the lap together. We talked about the 24 HOA Worlds race which will be held on this same course in Oct, we discussed Wobble-Naught bike fits, the National Ultra-Endurance Series (the Hundies) and who knows what else. He’s not just a great rider/racer, but a pretty nice guy too. Seemed like a regular Joe out for a Sunday ride. We knocked that lap out in about hour and called it a day.
In hind sight I wish I hadn’t finished early (notice I won’t even use the Q word). I should have finished out the 24 hours and at least tied my personal record of 23 laps, heck at the pace we did the previous lap, I may have gotten 24…and Ernie 27 I guess I have thrown myself at this wall one too many times and not achieved my goal (which of course is winning at Conyers). Maybe it was too soon to regain the motivation to race this same course again, but I don’t like that I didn’t stick it out and I hope to don’t make a habit of that.
Instead beating myself up at the time, we went to the nearest open restaraunt and I ate everything in sight. Then we returned for the awards. I actually won some cash (well they say it’s in the mail anyway) this time. This was actually my biggest payday yet for something like $270, but when you factor in the $330 entry it gets a little less exciting. Oh well, if I was in it for the money I would retired a long time ago.
I won’t be back to for that the other race at Conyers held in Oct or at least I won’t be racing it. I may help out others in with their or just swing by to watch, but I’ve got no interest in supporting that promoter and I’ll leave it at that. Instead I’ll be wrapping up plans for the ultimate endurance event…marriage. Namrita & I are getting married in late Oct in North Georgia (if you read her site I’m a little late with the news).
Last story. I immediately fell asleep on the couch when we got home, actually even before in the car, but then again on the couch. Nam says I was chewing in my sleep…now that’s hungry.
Many thanks to Ryan, Jen, Namrita, Javaun, Mom, Dad & Charlie for their help before, during and after this event. I’d also like to thank my sponsors for their support, please support them…links to the right —>
All of the photos used in this report were taken by Andrew Kornylak. Check out his amazing work at