I will start with the summary: An event to remember. A must-do. No need to read the rest of my babbling.
In the past few years I have been mentally preparing to put the 24 hours of Moab on my list of races to participate in. Surprise! I got the opportunity this year.
I learned this was a big party with approximately 4000 people meeting up at the Behind the rocks trail in the desert south of Moab. Caterers show up, armies of porta-potties are dropped off, showers are trucked in, vendors arrive to provide last minute gear and sell you the latest and greatest, and a bunch of crazy people show up to bike all day and night.
The best adjective I know of to explain the course is treacherous. This is a rough trail. If it's not rough, it's super fast. And in between are pockets of sand to keep you on your toes. The first 6 miles are a climb, where the second mile is just nuts. The rock garden is relentless in its attempt to rob you of traction. It provides no good route. It beats the hell out of you. Every lap.
After miles of getting beat by rock gardens of all flavors - once you see mile marker 6 - you get a breather in the form of a double track with some sand in it for good measure. Time to grab some food. Then a cool section of slickrock, some more technical stuff, and another break around mile 8.5. Another good food spot. I actually got in an aero position a few laps here, felt good.
Mile 11 ish starts the last climb. This starts as a dirt road, turns into another rock garden with sand, turns to seriously deep sand, dumps into a slickrock, back on the sandy road, and finally crest for a killer downhill back to the start. The downhill has one spot with the potential to send your body into orbit and a few deep sandy sections to make sure you're balanced properly.
As you reach the transition / start line you start passing people going the wrong way, kids running across the course, people walking around trying to get hit, and various other non-racers that just don't get what's happening.
That's my general memory of the course. My first lap, first turn right out of the tent, my front wheel slides out and I unclip from my pedal, bobble around like an idiot, and nearly crash. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't pass two solo guys right at the start to get in front of them. End of first lap, coming in to the s-curves before the tent, speed: Mach1, front wheel slides out, and I'm sliding in like I'm stealing home base. I was on a mission to destroy that lap time. I did ok with a time of 1:14 ish. My stats say 1:15:33 but I didn't stop my timer until I got back to our camp. I sped to our camp because my team mates didn't expect me so soon and I had to rush to tell Steve to get going cause the clock was ticking.
I must admit it was a great feeling to exceed every one's expectations to the point they weren't even prepared at the start. Hehe.
Night riding was actually an absolute blast. It very likely has to do with having killer night lights from Cygolite. I'll say it again: It is worth getting the right tool for the job. These lights were the right tool for the job. I am shocked my lap times didn't plummet; there was really only a 10-12 minute difference between day and night.
One of my fondest memories of this race will likely be the fact that there was always someone to catch. It is quite the thrill to work on reeling people in at all times. I didn't count but I swear it felt like my ratio was 70:1 of the people I passed vs. passed me. I had a great time.
Solo riders are super impressive. They are my heros. I had a short conversation with #17 on my last - my fourth - lap at 11:00 am or so. Looking at the stats I believe he was on his 14th. He was cranking up the last climb, just looked dead, and told me he had one more lap to go. I told him he was my hero. All those soloists are. I am pretty certain I saw the same woman solo rider (perhaps #57) on my first and last laps; she was just cranking along, just as happy and polite the last time I saw her as the first.
Another lasting impression: friendliness. The mountain biking crowd is a great group of people. I experienced heaps of politeness, I was cheered on during hard climbs, we were happily given some extra firewood when in need, and the overall vibe was super cool. That's what I'm talking about.
