This past weekend was Granny Gear’s 24 Hours of Big Bear.  Anyone who spoke to me before the race will know that I wasn’t too psyched for my first 24 of the season.  Having spent a lot of time in the spring enjoying the excitement and convenience of road racing, I wasn’t exactly up for the long drawn out process that is racing a solo 24.  Nevertheless, having won the solo class at Big Bear last year, and having trained all winter for another season on the 24 circuit, I had to go and give it my best shot. 

I knew my main competition would be from 24 hour haunches, Ernesto Marenchin (aka “Ernie,” or “Sologoat") and Rob Lichtenwalner (aka “Vegan Rob” or “the Hedgehog”).  Other notables included Stuart Stanton, who I raced against earlier this year in Leesburg, and Chris Gagnon, who has been doing more 24s as of late.  My game plan was to go into the race with a positive attitude, have a good time, and ride my own race.  Here’s how it panned out:

Lap 1:  Sporting my hot new Titus kit, I lined up front dead center for the LeMans start, hoping to get as many photo-ops as possible.  As I stood on the line, waiting for the gun, I recalled the year Hendershot got trampled during the run, and began having second thoughts about where I positioned myself.  When the gun went off, I sprinted like a scalded monkey to avoid the rush of people that would inevitably push from behind.  Pretty soon I found myself at/near the front of the herd of running cyclists.  I was one of the first guys to the bike, and quickly hopped on for the gravel prologue before entering the singletrack.  I put my head down and started hammering the gravel, quickly pulling behind the leader and drafting him.  I noticed Ernie was hanging on my wheel.  The three of us darted into the singletrack and held a high pace for the first 3-4 miles.  The pace was too high for my liking, and I knew I didn’t want to ride neck-and-neck with Ernie for 24 hours, so I pulled aside, slowed down, and let him ride by.  Vegan Rob and Chris Gagnon pulled up on me not too much later, and I rode with them for a while before I cracked.  I ended up 7^th on the first lap, 4^th place among the solos.  I was a little worried about my race at that point.

Lap 2:  I settled into my own pace and started recovering from the agony of lap 1.  I started finding my groove, and told myself to ride smooth, efficiently, and to play it smart.  My head was coming around.  Towards the end of the lap I came upon Rob and Chris Gagnon at the big rock garden.  Apparently Rob had broken his lefty, and Chris was slowing down a bit.  I rode by them, feeling better that I was now in 2^nd among the solos.

Laps 3-9:  I was holding steady in 2^nd place, behind Ernie.  His gap was growing 4 or 5 minutes per lap, but maxed out at 25 minutes.  I was fine with 25 minutes, but didn’t want it to get any longer than that.  It didn’t.

Lap 10:  At the start of the lap, I stopped at my pit where my awesome wife, April, and Rob were waiting for me.  Rob had dropped out after unfortunately breaking another fork.  April let me know that Ernie was not feeling great, and was starting to slow down.  Rob nicknamed me “Steady Steve” at this point and told me to just keep it steady, as I rolled away.  These were much needed words of encouragement.  I took some time off of Ernie on that lap.

Lap 11:  At the start of this lap, I was about 5 minutes back of Ernie, and April told me that based on our respective lap times, I’d catch him by the end of the lap.  I was on the gas pretty good this lap, searching out the red LED that Ernie had on the back of his bike.  I rode past many riders, but none of them were him.  Finally, around the 8 mile marker, spotted Ernie and rode past him, giving him a quick hey.  I then jumped on the gas, to let him know I was feeling good and had a lot left in me.  I ended this lap 6 minutes in the lead.

Laps 12-14:  Lap 11’s effort had put me in a little bit of a deficit, but I just kept rolling it, telling myself there was nothing to gain by getting off the bike.  The gap between Ernie and I seemed like it went back and forth every lap, from as big as 25 minutes, to as little as 8.  He wasn’t giving in, and I knew he would fight to the very finish.  I rolled up on Stuart Stanton, who was now in 3^rd, on lap 14, and we rode most of that lap together, which helped pass the time.

Lap 15:  I wasn’t sure exactly how big my lead was on Ernie, but I wasn’t feeling motivated to hammer.  I rode this lap well within my comfort zone, hoping to hold Ernie off while expending the minimum amount of effort.  At a couple points, I stopped and turned around to look for him, but couldn’t spot him anywhere.  So I just kept riding steady, finishing this lap with about a 30 minute lead.  It was after 10:00, and I was hoping I’d only have to ride one more lap.

Lap 16:  I was feeling better.  I didn’t want to hammer, but could have.  I was hoping to ride just fast enough to hold Ernie off, but still come in after 12:00 to avoid another lap.  I finished up a bit early, about 8 minutes before noon, but shortly before the end of the lap, someone told me I had a big gap, and didn’t need to go out again – the victory was mine.  It felt great.  I rode over the big bridge, into the scoring area, with my hands in the air.  I almost ran over Harlan Price, who was out taking photos, in the process.  Granny Gear announced me the “unofficial winner” at that time, and then declared me the official winner at noon.  It felt great to get off the bike, and even better to know I had won this awesome race for the 2^nd year in a row.

The awards ceremony was awesome.  The weather was gorgeous, and I got to stand atop the podium, with Ernie in 2^nd spot, and Stuart Stanton in 3^rd.  Laird Knight, founder of Granny Gear and 24 hour racing in general, let me hold the precious Iron Crankarm trophy, upon which my name will be memorialized for the 2^nd time.

This race reminded me why I love mountain biking and 24 hour racing.