Next time i'll remember nipple cream.

Yesterday Josh Butler and I did the 12 hours of the Canal loop mtb race. We left late Friday night and camped right at the trail head. Joshes GF Katie joined us and was a HUGE aid to our survival in the event. We camped right next to some guys from St. Louis. One of them was a SS guy, learning he does NUE events and endurance events alike I was already sizing him up as stiff competition. The event didn't pull as many participants as I thought it would, so that was a bummer. We awoke Sat morning and got out breakfast on, I generally eat a light breakfast before racing. I ate some yogurt, a clifbar and some fresh fruit. I set up my pit station and before we knew it 9 o'clock came and time to race! Peat(SS guy from St. Louis) was riding a homemade steel frame 29er SS and rigid. Peat is a badass, he had a suspension seatpost and oldschool San Marco rolls saddle. The crazy thing is he wore a white button down and jorts(jeans cutoff shorts). You dont show up to a 12hr race in this attire unless you mean business. The race started "lemond" style and they had us run up hill for a ways. Peat was first to his bike and first in the woods. I was probably sitting top 8 overall headed into the woods. Endurance events like this are always exciting because anything can happen, you're racing for 12 hours and no matter what happens you're never out til it's over. Within the first lap I worked myself up to top 4 overall right behind Peat. Instantly on a climb I noticed he had a bigger gear than me, so I accelerated past him to see if he would grab my wheel(which he did), we started chatting a bit. Peat was running a 32x19, not much bigger than my 32x20. However, hours into the short and steep climbs the course offered the SS starts to wear on you! I punched it again on the last climb of the 11.7 mile loop and Peat was dropped. I decided to hit the first lap hard and set my rhythm once I got my gap. I like being 1st, I like having control. I was timid about the weather, it rained here and there during the start and some during the 1st lap but turned out to be a beautiful day. I think my first lap was around 55 mins, after the 3rd lap I was feeling great and had it on cruise. Katie was working the pit for Josh and I and notified me that Josh was increasing his lap times. I was super impressed, this was Joshes first 12 hr, I told him to go out hard, get a gap and set a rhythm afterwards, he decided to do it his was. Easy-peasy, increase his pace and pick off stragglers. My only problem with that strategy is no matter who you are, 12 hrs in the saddle, you fatigue and can't increase consistently. I decided to up my rhythm a little bit for the next few laps. During my 7th lap my stomach started to feel a little strange and I think mostly due to Accelerade. I love this stuff, It seems to work well for me, but if I overdue it and dont drink a bottle of plain water here and there it gives me gas(yup!). On my eighth lap I grabbed a Coke and a bottle of hammer perpetuem. Perpetuem is a life saver, the Calcium really helps settle the stomach. It became obvious that if I could hold my consistent lap times, I was going to take the overall win. My gap back to Josh was increasing and Peat was gaining on Josh and eventually passed Josh. I was the only Solo rider to make the cutoff to start a 12th lap. It wasn't needed for me to secure my win so I passed, ha. Final report was 129 miles in 11:31. Peat did 11 laps as well but a little over an hour longer than me. Josh did amazing, 10 laps in 11:25. The event was a blast and 12 hrs of racing is always a challenge. Muscles fatigue that you never even knew you had. All in all my first SS 12 hr was a success, no mechanicals and no flats. I think riding SS has its advantages and disadvantages. Its easy to gauge your efforts being you only have one gear. The last couple of laps climbing some of the short and steep hills were taxing and super difficult. I was super happy, I never walked. I fought through the climbs and charged the downhills. And off to my favorite part, recovery and sitting on my ass the day after! lets eat.