Team "I closed Wolski's" ventured down to NM after competing in the 24Hr championships the year before in Colorado Springs. We got physically beat up in CoS on the 1 square mile, 13 mile course at Palmer Park. We literally got assaulted. It was cold, we drank too many Lime A Ritas and the course was super technical, so we were out for some revenge. WB (a NM native) assured us that it would be good times and great weather high up in the mountains of NM. What we didnt expect was the first drop of rain to hit NM in the last 10 years was to hit us during our race. And by a drop i mean about 6 inches of rain in 8 hours. The race was postponed due to conditions that were unridable. We almost lost tom out in the wilderness to a landslide. Tinker Juarez went on to win that year with 12 laps to our 5 person team of 8 laps. We said we would be back NM, and hopefully with drier weather.
During that season we would go on to compete at several more 24 hours races and the idea of doing Duo races had come up. Since i had been starting to feel out the waters in the solo category, Tom and WB agreed to do a duo. Over the next 2 years races went by with no duo entry for Tom and WB...until i caught wind of the Albuquerque mountain bike festival and the 12hrs of ABQ.
Without hesitation i immediately signed Tom and WB up for the duo. Zia Rides is the organization that puts on the incredible line up of races down there in NM including Enchanted Forest, home to the latest 24hr national championships. They are by far the best organization to put on races of these caliber. In general they are just super nice people, get just the right amount of sponsorship to provide good local craft beer, decent swag, and they know the importance of having a great local coffee truck onsite at all hours of the race. No one needs showers anyways, we are mountain bikers after all!
So, after signing those two up i was on the hunt to find my own Duo team otherwise i would have to do this sucker solo. I signed Toms wife up with me so there we had it. 2 duo teams but more importantly, Tom and WB could check this off their bucket list after 3 years of "talking" about it. Unfortunately, Teresa wasnt super thrilled with this idea of her racing but once she got the confirmation in her email inbox there was no time for sulking, she threw together a training plan and kept to it for the last 6 weeks. She hit North Table mountain routinely crushing it up Mesa top trail, which is by far one of the most grueling climbs on the front range. Come race day she would be ready to slay-it!
WB was still certain that come race day tom wouldnt show up since he had had a history of coming up with excuses as to why he couldnt do a duo with her. We lured him down to NM with green chile chicken enchiladas and a nice big king size bed to sleep in at WB's parents house. Ok so maybe Tom does need a shower.
Day before the race:
We make the drive down to ABQ and head to the race site for packet pick up. We stop briefly at the beer tent for a root beer and Pale Ale and then head back down into town for some green chile chicken enchiladas.
Race Day:
Up early to get to the venue and set up our canopy and lounge chairs. Race starts at 9am. Tom and I line up at the start and it is not a crowded start. There are may 60-70 people at the start. Theres probably 150-ish people in the whole race so definitely a small field but for a first time race thats to be expected.
The course is a 13 miler with ~1400' of gain but it was likely a little less based on my garmin which actually tends to overestimate so it was likely even less than that.
We are off and hit the singletrack immediately as this trail is about 100% singletrack. We come up to our first technical section which is a big rock garden. THere are about 20 of these throughout the course. We push on in typical first lap fashion which is real slow and in line. I always have to caution people who go out on the first lap because the first lap is rarely true racing. Its just too crowded especially on tight singletrack and can be dangerous if you try to pass in a bad spot. I would suggest to anyone that if you want to race lap 1, you better get in the front row or get out onto the singletrack before everyone else. You always have to realize that no one wins or loses on the first lap, its slow for just about everyone. you have to ride smart, pass when you can but dont take too many stupid risks and risk a flat or hitting a tree because you are trying to pass so many people in a bad spot. I like to sit back, put on some tunes on the boom bottle and have fun. It is mountain biking after all.
Make our way through the loop and get to some super flowy sections where you can really open her up and get on the gas. Then youll hit some more techy stuff and then some nice flowly stuff again. Like most other places on the planet except Colorado and specifically the front range, climbs in NM are not long and sustained but short and punchy. They are maybe a quarter mile for the steep ones and maybe 1-2 miles for the more gradual low grade climbs. Unfortunately for us Front rangers, we make up all of our time on the climbs and lose time on the descents so these courses certainly level out the playing field.
I make sure i stop at the albuquerque bikeworks donut station on every lap and grab a half donut. This was super awesome as it allowed me to really not eat much on these laps other than my donut. They were located at about mile 7 so it was a perfect spot to grab some calories each lap. I stopped one time in the middle of the day when i was starting to bonk a bit. Water was just not as refreshing as it should have been. The climbs were getting to me as was the 75-80 degree sun. I limped into the donut stop and Vincent hooked me up with a corona. It was deeeelicious and just what i needed. After a donut and the corona i was back out and ready to hit my 3rd lap in a row. Teresa and I traded off in a 2 or 3 lap to 1 ratio for the race. WB and Tom were doing 2:2's and were really killing it.I had predicted those two would be very competitive and sure enough they were holding steady in 2nd place the entire race. the 1st place team was just ahead of them by 1 lap the entire day and 3rd place was one lap down so they just had to ride safe and smart and finish with no major crashes or mechanicals.
Teresa and I were holding strong in 4-5th place in the Male 4 person teams (dont ask!....) Dusk quickly came up and were headed into our last laps. Lights on as it was now dark and this tight course was sure to be a party under darkness. Luckily our Magicshine lights throw some crazy lumens and light everything up. A bit off our pace but we finished strong and both of our teams held our positions.
A super strong day overall for all 4 of us. Teresa certainly wins the award for overcoming her fears of racing, especially on this super technical trail. She was by far the most courageous person out there and absolutely killed that course. wait until she sees what i signed her up for next....
It was another fantastic day with friendly riders and the best organized event you could ask for. The Oak flat camp ground was a fantastic venue with great trails that you just cant beat. We hope to be back next year and also that it draws some larger crowds to keep this race going for many years.
Team It Never Rains in NM: 2nd place coed duo
Team WB stole a dog once: 4th place Coed Duo (although results are unofficial since we somehow were put in the 4 person male category.)
For the gear junkies..
bike setup: scott scale pro 29er. maxxis ardent race tires, 1x10 (36x11x34 up front). magicshine 808 light (1000lumens).
nutrition: about 6 donuts, 6 Bosque beers and 1 corona. Twizzlers and a turkey sandwich. 1 large americano after laps 1 and 2.
Miles: 73mi
elevation: 7200'
