Reba on 24 hours of Moab
24 Hours of Moab AKA 24 Hours of Sandblast by Rebecca Rusch
Last weekend marked the 14th annual 24 Hours of Moab event in Utah. This was my fourth visit to this race and each one has been memorable. The desert has a way of dealing out weather extremes that either break people or make them thrive. I headed down to Moab as part of a 25-person posse from my hometown in Ketchum, ID. There were various teams of various abilities and we all set up a giant Idaho camping compound together. The extra company made for some great, late night chats, provided extra people to commiserate with and supplied a vast amount of storytelling about flats, broken bikes, crashes, and bonks. I was riding with a Specialized Designs for Women team. Our team consisted of Alli, who runs the Specialized Western States women’s demo truck, Kathryn works in the marketing department at Specialized, Sam and Sarah, two runners who won this trip to Moab to race with us. I was the token pro and the only one on the team who had ever taken part in a 24-hour event. Sam and Sarah had only ridden mountain bikes one time before. They are married and avid marathon runners, but the bike thing was completely foreign to them. Leading up to the race, we were all wondering what they would be like and how they would fare in the technical terrain in Moab. I figured that if they were marathon runners, they at least knew how to suffer and also could just run their bikes if needed. I did my best to educate everyone as quickly as possible on the finer points of night riding and racing for a whole day.
Friday was the day of set up, pre-riding and fussing with gear. The scene at Moab is sort of like Burning Man for mountain bikers. People bring in unique camping trailers, sport crazy costumes, and ride homemade bikes. The beer flows constantly and many people take the camping and partying more seriously than the riding. Of course, there are the elite racers who are vying for the win, but the majority of the 1300 riders there are more interested in being part of the scene and hanging out with friends.
The forecast was calling for 30mph winds and temps down to 35 degrees. There was also a 30 percent chance of snow/rain on Saturday night. Setting up tents on Friday was a bit comical. There were tents, clothing items and debris flying through the air. For those people camping out on Friday night, the annoying flapping of tent walls was incessant and the red sand permeated every orafice.
I pre-rode the course with some friends from Idaho. During our casual ride, I was thankful that I was not racing solo this year. It has been a long, great season, but I am tired and Moab is hard. The course was as hard as I remembered. There were sections that I still couldn’t ride and new sand pits had developed. The last two miles of the course are slightly downhill on fast fire roads. Normally, it makes you feel like a big ring rock star. This year the headwind had formed waves across the sand and it looked like the sea. It was no longer the fast, ego-boosting finish. This time it was a strenuous landmine of ever changing piles of sand. Add in the lack of visibility from the swirling sand and you start to get an idea of the conditions.
The Designs for Women team from Specialized did not materialized at the race venue until about 5pm on Friday. They were on their own for a short pre-ride to get used to the new demo bikes. Alli fit them on their bikes, told them how to wear a helmet, they tightened up their running shoes and went off to learn how to ride a mountain bike at 6pm. At 8pm, they were not back and it was completely dark. They made it back unscathed, but had already begun their 24 Hours of Moab adventure long before the start of the race.
The race unfolded as usual with some very fast people, some very slow people and a lot of mechanicals thrown in for good measure. The weather stabilized a bit and although there were slight snow flurries, at least the wind stopped sandblasting our faces into raw pulp. It was very strange for me to be wandering around a race venue and not having the stress and excitement of racing. I have to admit I was a bit lost at times, wandering between tents, talking with friends and watching the solo women’s race. I wondered how I would have fared and if I should have race solo. However, when I did my team laps, it became quickly apparent that I don’t have the speed or motivation right now. It has been a long, very successful season and I decided this weekend, that I have earned the right to sit back, enjoy the success of the year and participate in a race with completely different objectives.
By being somewhat of a bystander, I was really able to catch up with friends, truly watch the race develop and experience the whole enchilada as a spectator and supporter of endurance racing. I had loads of time to cheer for my teammates and help get their bikes ready. I had the luxury of sitting down with friends to spend some quality time catching up. I had the time to talk with the Light and Motion guys about the new lights and give them feedback. I chatted with a number of women about the new 2009 Specialized women’s bikes. I got to help a friend from Idaho pull his way out of a nutritional bonk and complete his fastest lap. I cheered loudly as my good friend Jari won the women’s solo division. I also got to witness a couple of marathon runners morph into mountain bikers before my eyes. I left Moab proud to have been able to use the opportunity to share my endurance race experience with so many people on so many levels. I know it’s corny, but there are so many quality folks in the endurance cycling world and races like this bring them all to one place to celebrate, ride bikes and hang out together. As always, this year’s 24 Hours of Moab will remain memorable for me.
Next up: tomorrow I head to Brazil for IronBiker. It’s the largest mountain bike race in Brazil with 2 days riding andabout 50 miles each day. I will also be attending a bike show over there for Specialized and soaking in the local culture. Stay tuned for a report when I get home.