24 Hours Duo

Once upon a time, I mentioned to Sarah that I thought it would be cool to do 24 hours duo with her. I then quickly forgot the conversation. In the bathroom at Snowbasin before the ICUP race, she asked if I still thought that would be cool because she was in for 24 Hours of Moab duo. After checking with Chris (my manager, training partner, and usual team mate), I agreed.
My thoughts going into the race were to push hard during daylight and take it down a notch and play it safe at night. (Un)fortunately, we did not have any competition within our division--Women's Duo Championship. Interestingly, there was also only one team last year in this category.
My first lap did not go as planned. I volunteered to do the run as I have never done it and figured I should pay my dues to the 24 Hours of Moab. That bloody bush is much farther away than it looks. I had staged my bike in a prime spot but got confused in the ruckus and spent time looking for it. On the first lap, we avoid the single track at the start to help thin out the group. They had us enter the course much sooner than I expected based on what they did last year. We had to do the first technical climbing sections. It was a HUGE cluster for quite a bit. I then dropped my chain twice towards the end of the lap and had to stop and put it back on the chain ring. My time, everything considered was respectable. Sarah rocked her first lap
On my third lap I formerly met (my boyfriend?) Trevor from the Sports Den in SLC. I saw him a bit on my earlier laps. We chatted it up a bit. He professed his love to me and I rode away.Sarah rocked her second and third lap.
I set up my lights and headed down for my fourth lap. I spoke to Trevor and his soigneur (wife/girlfriend?) exchanging pleasantries. I went out before him and never saw him again, so I guess we broke up. I wonder if it was something I said? This lap was the worst. I did not feel good on the bike. I had light issues. My set up allowed/forced the battery to disconnect. I had but one working light for most the lap. I came in and told Chris I needed my spare Superfly (2008) which has easier gearing because I was too weak to push the 26-36 on my new bike. He essentially told me to "hike up my skirt" and ride my bike like he knows I can. (He did not trust the spare bike because we just threw it back together and he did not trust it.) He instructed me to take some No-Doz and ride. He did mention that Sarah was struggling. She was having neck issues and if we were both miserable maybe we should take a time out for a bit.

Stars, stripes, and plaid?

When Sarah came in I mentioned that for her consideration.  On this lap, I came around. I started to feel good again. I used a set of light that I borrowed from Sarah and they were amazing. When I came in I asked Sarah how her neck was. She said it was better. I told her I felt good and wanted to keep going. She agreed. Later, she told me that she was a bit disappointed that I wanted to continue, but in the end she was really glad we did.
I rode a couple of sections that I never have before like the detour around Nose Dive and that funky rock slab on first technical section . The rest of my laps just sort of blend together. In the end we did eight laps a piece. I don't think I have ever done more than four laps at this race. I knew it was going to be hard, but I think it was harder than I expected. I did a good job fueling and the pre-race steps I took to help my GI track happy worked practically perfect--a combination of Prilosec, probiotics and Gaviscon. We finished early and I am a bit disappointed that I did not go out for a final lap. At the time, I was torn but did not feel it was necessarily worth it.

Chris teamed up with Chuck, Greg, and Noah. Noah crashed and got a concussion which put them down a man through the night. They placed fourth in a stacked field and overall.
I also want to say thanks to the Mad Dog Team and company for their help and support. To mention just a few:
1. Carl and Dave Dean for working on my bike
2. Carson for pedaling around to make sure it was good after the tinkering
3. Brady for making me sit in his warm RV
4. Keith lubed my chain for me after a night lap
5. Abby, Scott and all for feeding me.
6. Stu and Racer prepping my bike after/before a lap
7.The massage and leg rubs from Joan in the start house
8. The countless words of encouragement especially when I felt absolutely cooked.
9. And of course to Sarah for doing this with me. It was a great experience.