Title 167

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>REI Austin Cycling Team</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="REI Austin Cycling Team"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Race and Ride Reports"><U><B>Race and Ride Reports</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Race and Ride Reports"><U><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">     <A HREF="id207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Title 167"><U><IMG SRC="02f0e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>  <A HREF="id200.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Title 167"><U><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>24 Hrs of Rocky Hill</B></div> <div> <B>... John Leader</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Sorry all for not posting sooner, but I've been putting the whole weekend into perspective. It</div> <div> was a much different experience than road racing, with taxes your lactic systems and power and endurance. This experience taxed my coordination, vision, WWF systems. THe experienced mtn biker certainly had the advantage in these conditions becaase the course got very technical (i've had nightmares about roots attacking me and woken up twitching to manuever my virtual bike around them) - but that's another story....</div> <bR> <div> The Clothes</div> <div> It helped to spend some time with my clothes on Monday morning, 5 soaks and rinses in the tub and then 3 cycles in the washer - I was pleasantly surprised to see colors back in my clothes instead of the bland brown I had been accustomed to.</div> <bR> <div> The Bike</div> <div> Almost everything is put away now, the bike, although it really did quite well for me considering that I had shifting problems even before the race, I have not touched since.  occasionally, I will walk by the 'Goose, and pause, thinking how lucky I was to have a bike look after me as she did, and it makes me think back to all the times I was on the trail wondering what business I had out there. A typical lap (for me) would be:</div> <div> Get baton</div> <div> get running start out of mud to road and jump on</div> <div> spend next 30 seconds clipping in while avoiding mud</div> <div> hammer...hammer...hammer</div> <div> fall in mud - foot won't come out, put out hand</div> <div> coverend in mud, unclip and lift bike off me</div> <div> spin for 30 seconds while trying to clip in</div> <div> Hand filled with mud, stuck on grip</div> <div> wipe mud off grip</div> <div> unclip, stop, go back and pick up grip, wipe mud off, put grip back on</div> <div> spend 30 seconds trying to clip in</div> <div> now spend 30 seconds trying to clip in left foot</div> <div> Fat Chucks, unclip and run, knowing my rest would come at the top while trying</div> <div> to clip in again</div> <div> get to top and spend 30 seconds to clip in</div> <div> not working, coast and drag feet through puddle</div> <div> clip in</div> <div> hit single tack, going well</div> <div> zoom, zoom, zoom, whack - hit root, can't unclip, go down on shoulder</div> <div> get up, 30 seconds trying to clip in</div> <div> bad section, grab tree to get balance, ride on</div> <div> etc......</div> <bR> <div> The Support</div> <div> get back in, Zak takes bike to rinse off mud, I rinse off clothes and legs go back and jump into bed to get warm Wade or Carey fix brakes and "shifting" and anything else + lube</div> <div> Zak / Nicole make dinner sleep - they get me up to ride again, group load me up with essentials go out and wait for rider to come in</div> <bR> <div> The Compound</div> <div> We were able to hook up with Philips' group from Valley Cycles in College station. We had two large canopys tied together with 1 (8) person tent, 2 (4) person tents and 4 other tents, 1 stove, 1 inverter for charging lights, 7 chairs, 11 bikes, 1 fire pit, and a partridge in a pear tree.</div> <bR> <div> All said and done, this was an awesome event, I have a few regrets, but we can chalk that up to experience. When I first arrived I was shcoked at the number of people and RV's and tents, and baners already set up (Fri). By the next day, that had doubled - there were</div> <div> hundreds of people and thousands of dollars in bikes, stand, spare parts, and other support</div> <div> equipment. Much different that a road race, thats for certain.</div> <bR> <div> As a team, we literally could not have done it without the support of Wade, Carey, Nicole, Travis, and especially Zak. With as much a hard time as we often like to give him, he</div> <div> came through and never lost sight of what needed to be done, did so without complaint, and often did more than what was expected right through from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon - certainly the MVP of the team. Thanks all for the support and help. We can only hope to reciprocate someday.</div> <bR> <div> -Leader</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>