2010 24 Hours of Moab

Some fast bikes waiting on another lap

I wasn't going to write anything on this year's race given I didn't end up racing.  I did a glamour lap with Adam Saturday evening and it was fun mixing it up.  Mostly I just hung around with my two boys and watched the action and drama unfold.  As I said, I wasn't going to post anything but I was told by someone all things "Moab" should be in the public domain and I agree.  I didn't capture much from this year's race and for what it's worth, here is my contribution to the interwebs.

Late Saturday night I did an impromptu interview with Aaron Smith where he (apparently drunk on RockStar) explains how his race is going.  Aaron is a new friend of mine... I'm pretty sure he is joking... pretty sure.  As always my interview skills were off the charts awesome.





Driving home Sunday morning I pulled out the POV cam and hung it out the window.




Hopefully I'll have more to add next year.

Firsts

Higham Boys - Arches National Park

Life is filled with them.  Firsts.  As I get older, I'm not sure which I enjoy more my firsts or watching others experience theirs.  This weekend it was definitely the latter.  I took my two oldest boys to Moab for an introduction to a number of firsts. Among them the first 24 hour mountainbike race experience and first time on Slickrock Trail. Neither of them had ridden Slickrock so I was excited to see what they could do.  I tried to boost up their confidence on the way explaining the physical properties of sandstone and the amazing "gription" they would get riding:

Me: "It's like they took sidewalk and poured it all over the mountains and let it dry. You will have amazing gription!"

Them: "Sidewalk? Gription?"

Me: "Yea, except it's orange.  It's really grippy on your tires not like the dirt in Colorado. I bet both of you could ride straight up a cliff if you wanted to."

Them: "Why do they call it slickrock if it is so grippy?"

Me: "Um..."

Here is how it went.



We also made it out to Dead Horse Point, another first for them.  The last time I visited was when I was 10 year old.  I will let the video below speak for me.  I will add that it is worth the extra hour of driving and the $10.00 entrance fee.

Socialize

Jason Hansen and Brandon Hodges on Georgia Pass.  Jason wants to make sure everyone can see his new Santa Cruz Tallboy prominently displayed in front of him.

I found out over the weekend that my 24 Hours of Moab team was not going to happen.  I was slated to ride on one of the MDC 4-man expert teams.  Despite the best efforts put forth by Keith, Adam, and myself we couldn't talk anyone else into filling the last spot on the team I was riding with.  Really?  It's like trying to recruit a 10-year-old to go to Disneyland Disney World.  One would expect a flock of eager volunteers. There were a few hopeful prospects but they all ended up falling through.  At one point Adam might have had Jeremiah Bishop on the hook but that too was short lived (ha ha).  Heck, I even floundered for a good 30 min. It was clear it wasn't going to happen. As a token of optimism, I suggested we register the team as "Jell-O nailed to a wall" if we did pull it off because that's what the process was turning into.  I realize everyone may be burned out or have a myriad of other reasons for not racing in Moab which I can definitely understand.  It is kind of disappointing not to bring it all together though.  As an alternative, I did consider for about 20 min registering solo but my last serious ride a few days before reminded me that I have been tapering since the Park City Point 2 Point almost a month ago.  If I am going to shell out that kind of money for a race I want to be in top form.  With the death of my 24HOM team came the end of my 2010 race season and hopefully the start of some good casual Fall riding.  

It is time to start socializing again.  

It's not that I haven't been trying all summer. I tried many times but I couldn't get any of my riding buddies to show up at 5:30am for a grueling 3-hour ride before work.  I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to show up that early to ride with me either.  I found it especially hard to get a 35-year-old body firing on all cylinders that early. No matter how much I hurt at the start, I always ended feeling completely alive at the end - something I had to keep reminding myself each morning during the first few pedal strokes.  

So now that the off season is here and the reasons for early morning madness are gone, I am starting to see some of my riding pals again and I have to say, it is a welcome change.  The first kickoff of this casual season was an early morning (ironic I know) ride from Kenosha Pass to Georgia Pass.  As you can see the Fall transition is well under way in the Colorado high country.  In fact I think this time last year the Georgia Pass was covered with snow.

Here is the route we took.