(Spoiler alert, we took first place in the corporate team category)
We compiled a great team of six riders, each doing a 10 mile lap/loop as fast as can be. The eight hour race that starts at 10am and each team or individual rides for the next eight hours.
I first did this race back in 2016 as on a male duo team. We took turns riding a lap then resting. I learned a lot that year, mentally and physically.
In 2017 team up with three friends and competed as a male quad team. Not that I am the fastest runner, but that year I ended up doing the Le Mans start. A run to your bike, 1/4 mile up an incline, grab the bike and go. Being a middle of the pack runner, I got caught up in a lot of traffic on the mostly single track course.
This year, 2018 was different. We had a corporate team, sponsored by Xtreme Backyards, consisting of six riders. We had our fastest person, who also happens to be in super great shape, very active in playing hockey and is also 16 years old.
He came off the trail, running the 1/4 mile Le Mans start totally out in front by margin. Not only did it get us out in front on the first lap, it helped up later on in the race not having to deal with the congestion on the trail.
The ten mile loop course was beat up pretty in the late summer. Monsoon rains changed the trail and created a bunch of areas that go through washes to be filled with sand.
The high temperature Saturday got to be 86 degrees, so I made sure to pack along my RinseKit. We used it to hose down the rider in the transition area before heading out on the course. We also meet up with the rider at the four mile mark and sprayed them down to keep their body temperature down. Mainly spraying their chest as they approached a corner and their back as they rode away.
Our team did great. We watched the clock knowing when our rider left the start line and when to expect them back in the transition area.
We accomplished 11, 10 mile laps/loops during the eight hour race. Because we started our last lap before the eight hours expired, we were able to finish and count that last lap.
The team worked hard to prepare and do all they could out on the course.
We took first place in the corporate team category. A big thank you goes to our sponsor, Xtreme Backyards and everyone else to helped us leading up to race day and race day itself.
