The following was submitted by team rider Dave “I should work in a bike shop” Byers…

I thought I would share my experiences from my first 12 hour solo mtb race in Park City over the weekend.
My goal going into this race was to complete 10 laps for a total of 100 miles and 13,000’ of climbing in 12 hours. I made it a point to share this goal with a few of you so that there would nowhere to hide if I didn’t complete 10 laps. In one of the hardest days in my cycling career I did in fact complete 10 laps and now have my first 12 hour solo mtb race under my belt. And there will be more. J

This race looked so simple on paper: Set up an organized pit area, stop every two laps to refill Camelbak with cold water and grab a new Perpetuem bottle, lube chain after lap 6, and keep the heart rate below 160 at all times.

The 4am wake-up was rude but necessary to have time to eat and set up my pit area since I was flying solo in Park City. I scored a great pit location 50 yards past the start/finish line and set up my little home for the next 13 hours. By design, there was no shade, no chair, no tunes, no disco ball, and therefore no reason to spend a lot of time there.

Laps 1-4
7:00am….GO! Woohoo! Mtb bike racing is fun. My legs felt great on the climbs and I was passing a few people on the rocky backside downhill. I was able to keep the heart rate around 160 or less and started taking in calories 30 minutes into the race. My lap times for the first four laps were between :58 and 1:03. The pit stop after lap two was less than two minutes and the bike was working great although the dusty conditions were leaving the drive train pretty squeaky already.

Laps 5-8
The rush of the start and the excitement of the race has worn off by now and little pains in the back, hands, and feet begin to show themselves. By the 6th lap I have settled into a groove and I am consistently seeing the same three other solo male riders around me during my laps. As I left my pit for lap 7 and everything seemed normal. The initial climb is gradual and can be done in the middle ring but as I climbed I felt the twinge of the dreaded INNER THIGH CRAMP…Fa’ck! The inner thigh cramp is my nemesis and I do battle with it every friggin’ time I race a long event. I had been taking 4 Endurolytes per hour and I upped it to 6 when the cramps started. By occasionally jumping off and walking/running next to the bike to stretch things out I was able to prevent the cramps from becoming a full-blown lockdown. When I stopped in my pit area after lap 8 I was feeling very good about achieving my goal of 10 laps. I was tired and beat up but I did not have a doubt that I was going to do 10.

Lap 9
The wheels can come off SO fast. I headed out at 4:05pm for lap 9 in a daze. I only spent about 5 minutes in the pit but at this point it was HOT and I was just not feeling “right”. I had been taking Perpetuem all day and a change sounded good so I took a bottle of Heed for lap 9. I am not sure if it was the heat, overall fatigue, the addition of Heed (which I drink all of the time with no issues), or all of the above, but my stomach revolted. For almost all of lap 9 I couldn’t take in any calories or even sip plain cold water. For the remainder of my painfully slow 9th lap my brain was busy cranking out rationalizations to quit.

Post-Lap 9 Pit Stop
The cutoff to begin your last lap is 6:15pm and when I limped into my pit after lap 9 it was 5:35pm. So, according to the rules, I had plenty of time to head out for my 10th lap. When I dropped my bike next to the pit after lap 9 I thought I was done. As I stood there I was so tired and I had ridden farther than I ever had on a mtn bike but I didn’t feel good about my race yet. I told people my goal was 10 laps. I laid it out there on purpose. I may not be fast like my hero Jay P. but I am stubborn so I prepared for one more lap. I chewed four TUMS, drank some cold water and headed out for one last lap.

Lap 10
Note to self: Just keep the legs turning and do not stop. By the second climb I had caught a single-speeder named Chris who was on his 11th lap and had really emptied his tank as he could barely talk. Seeing this guy pushing himself like this was inspiring. Talking to a fellow rider who has suffered as you have all day is like therapy and I felt a surge of energy. I rode the last 1/3rd of lap 10 on an emotional high knowing that I had achieved my goal. I crossed the finish line at 7:07pm for a middle-of-the-pack overall finish and a personal victory.

A huge thanks to Michelle and all of my friends for their pre-race encouragement and support.

Some random thoughts & observations
1) There were a LOT of fast riders on 29” hardtails. Hmmm.
2) TUMS will be with me every time I race from now on.
3) Inner thigh cramps suck.

Take care,
Dave