2008 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey Results

Raul, Ilana and I got together for a 3-person co-ed team for the race. Ilana and I got 3rd in duo last year. The course was longer, more difficult but a little less exposed. Of course, it was in the 90s yesterday. It was so hot that my jersey was wet from sweat BEFORE every lap.

That's hot.

These goofy technical fabrics don't work when it's that humid and you sweat like a pig. Or rather, when _I_ sweat like a pig. Peeling that jersey off at the end of every lap felt great. My jerseys weighed 2 pounds when I was done every lap.

All four of them... at 10.5 miles each... in the heat.

I thought I would go out and do a double after the run but I suck at running and Raul was kitted up when I came into the start/finish. Instead of just handing me a bottle as I requested, he said 'You want me to go?' and I said 'Yes!'

The laps later on felt a bit better on the later laps. I took JoFo's advice and geared down for some of the climbs (granny gear) and pushed it on the less-steep climbs and flat stuff. No brakes on the downhill sections, of course. The heat was serious so keeping the body temp down on the climbs was a good call for me.

It had rained a bit the last few weeks (didja notice?) and the course was SEVERELY rutted out in some sections, a little muddy in a few sections and really tacky on most of it. Last year, it was so dry that it was VERY sketchy in the turns. I really leaned on a lot of the turns and the off-camber stuff but I wasn't coming loose at all. After my first lap of not checking my tire pressure (22psi), I bumped it up to 38 and probably could have run even more with no problems. The higher-pressure helped me carry speed through the rolly sections. I ROLLED past a few people at the bottom of some climbs because I carried so much speed into it. It wasn't my power, it was my momentum conservation.

Racing against the other City Bikes co-ed team of Mathias, Drajem and Lynn was a lot of fun. Plenty of trash-talking and laughing in the pit. We managed to beat them by only a few minutes. Barry and his team (2nd) ended up closing in on us after a really bad first lap (broken chain, flat). Of course, that's racing, right? Your equipment has to work.

We were all working together to make sure that everyone was healthy. I don't just mean my dcmtb team, but everyone out on the course. I was prepared to stop and help every person I saw stopped out on the course. And there were a lot of people 'taking a rest' out there. I asked every person if they needed anything and encouraged them to keep moving, especially when I heard the thunder. Luckily, the storm passed to the north of us.

Tough day. I got a kiss from Scud on the podium (jealous?) and a new '1st Place 2008 EX2' pint glass to add to the collection. I have quite a collection of t-shirts and pint glasses and we've started rotating some out of service.

Big ups to my dcmtb teammates for a great day. I think Tommy Vaughn had the fastest lap in the 55 minute range. I think my fastest lap was just under an hour but I'll have to check the results to be sure. I wonder if they are up yet...

Thanks to Jim Harman, Bike Lane and all of the other sponsors for a great event.

That 4th lap hurt...