From David Wanczyk’s Blog ~
Sarah Kaufmann staggered into her pit-stop and sat down gingerly.
She’d been sick to her stomach for the last three laps and, because of that, she’d had to stop twice out in the desert to steady herself. Though she was wrapped in a sleeping bag, and though she d been straining physically for hours, she was cold and shivering. It was 3:30 a.m., and passing out seemed to be her only healthy option.
And then she rode her bike fifty more miles, five more hours, three more laps. This is so bad, she said. Harder than it’s supposed to be, she said. And then she rode her bike fifteen more miles, two more hours, one more lap. As she neared the end, her brother Dave and I held out a makeshift finish line. She broke it (barely); she was done.
Credit: Rob Strong. For more excellent visual documentation of this race and other things, please visit BlogStrong
24-hour solo mountain bike racing is questionable at best, idiotic at worst. Doctors advise against it. Dentists advise against it. Onlookers shake their heads at the pain of the racers with an equal mix of admiration and contempt.
Racers themselves say never again, say this is so stupid, say I can’t go on.
Staying upright becomes the paramount challenge. They transform from racers to outlasters, winning only by attrition. Riders drop by the dusty wayside in tears and frustration after two or eight or nineteen hours of riding. And someone else wins.
For those who finish, or come close to it, much has been lost: fluids first and foremost, but also balance and sanity. It will take them a month to recover fully. They will have dropped ten pounds. Some will hallucinate.
They wonder if the outlay of energy been worth it as they stand wobbling at dawn, too exhausted to wipe their crusty faces. Their legs circle on phantom pedals, and they confront phantom visions of nighttime riding.
Why did I do this, they think.
Ignoring the part of themselves that said stop, they have ridden their bikes over steep buttes and through soft sand, over uneven rocks and through sagebrush for 24 hours.
Read Dave’s full race report on Sarah’s experience at theoutlasters.blogspot.com
