12hrs of Doom and Gloom

This past weekend brought my return to the 12hrs of the Hill of Truth. In the past I've had to back out of this race due to various reasons since 2005. This year I said I'd be racing come hell or high water, a statement I'd later regret. I didn't make the original cut to race with my 2005 team Granny's Rotten Teeth but due to someone wussing out I was invited to race with them. Earlier in the week the weather forecast had gone from bad to good. Friday morning's forecast went back to bad but I was in denial.

I left work early to get on the road and setup in daylight. I entered the address for Haw Ridge into the Garmin and let it guide the way. I was nervous about following it's route since it kept me mostly off the interstate and took the scenic route. I pulled in around 3:45 and started getting the Element into RV mode. Most of us went out for a good dinner at Big Ed's Pizza in Oak Ridge. We were amazed to see how much skinny little Ian could pack away. The night went on and we started fading to bed fast. I held out as long as I could enjoying the nice weather and still in denial about the rain. Around 2am I woke up and had to open the sunroof since it was so warm in the car. Still no rain. Then around 3:30am I wake up again and hear it... the rain had reached us.

Saturday morning we were greeted by a growing pond and muck. We did the best we could to keep dry but it was a tough battle. Race time rolled around and Brad was our #1 man. As we saw riders coming in we saw how nasty the course was looking. When my lap rolled around it was hard to get moving and motivated. The course was slick so I just tried to be smooth and not crash. There were plenty of hike-a-bike sections. As I rolled in my clock showed 1:09 (theirs showed a much slower time). Our support crew has left as the rains continue. Luckily Melinda was there to take care of us. Hot beef stew is great after a chilly lap in the rain.

As the day turned to night I was ready for lap #2. We were comfortably in 2nd place and thought the gap to first wasn't obtainable without a mechanical or other problem from the leaders. I concentrated on staying smooth and not breaking something. The weather had cleared for the moment and I was treated with great views of bright red skies. No time to take them in, we were in a race after all. I hand off to Anthony and watch him take off. Once again Melinda has taken care of us and has hot food ready.

Anthony makes his way in with 1 dim headlight and hands off to Brad. A few minutes later we get a message that we've closed a 16 minute gap to 6 minutes. Brad finishes a good lap and hands off to Greg. We start checking times and find we've moved into the lead. Greg doesn't know this and it probably helped keep him smooth and in control. Now the strategy starts. It looks like Greg will finish his lap about 10 minutes before the cut-off. After the now 2nd place team comes in we find they will have to turn a 1:07 lap to get an 11th lap in. Their previous laps night laps had been in the 1:25+ range. Ready for anything to happen I gear up for a lap. Dreading a midnight finish I hope I don't have to go. We eventually work out the plan that I would ride up part of the course where I'd meet Anthony and with the miracle of cellular technology, we'd find out if they made the cut off or not. When Greg rolled in I took off. With a little mis-communication, I thought I'd be meeting Anthony at the top of the first big climb. When I saw him in the field I panicked and decided to finish our 11th lap. I dig my way through the field and reach the first hike-a-bike climb. At this point I thought "This sucks". I roll on down the trail with the thought of being the last man in stuck in my head. Then I developed my own strategy... wait in the powerline clearing and watch for riders lights heading out on course. At that point I'd have a good headstart on anyone behind me. As I see the 11:05 cut off time tick by I hadn't seen any riders come out so I head back to camp. I check in with race officials to let them know I hadn't completed that lap but was back safely and confirm we had won.

Overall it was a great weekend and it felt great to win. Hopefully we can repeat next year and I'll be able to turn some faster lap times.