When the Allamuchy race gods decide to show you no mercy, it can be a very long 24 hours.Excessive heat warning for Saturday, turning to torrential thunderstorms by night, finishing with a race course that was the equivalent of riding on top of a fudge cake. Mark, thanks for telling me that it never rains there. Aside from the heat and the massive amount of people on the trail, my first lap went really well. I turned in a time of 1hr 18 min on the 10.5 mile course to get our team off and rolling. This was only the third ride and first race on the new Fuji Tahoe SL 29er. It felt comfortable like a bike that I had already owned for years.
Saturday night and Sunday morning would prove to be vastly different, taking a large toll on rider, equipment, and gear. Roughly five minutes after setting up lights for the night lap, the thunder was heard rumbling in the distance. We decided to wait 30 minutes and see if it would blow over. I eventually made the decision to start my night lap anyway because the storm was going to last through the night and I had a feeling that other teams would try to wait it out. Rolled down to the check in, climbed the fire road to the singletrack, entered the woods, then BAM! The sky opened up and instantly the course was flooded. Large rocks under inches of water, water running towards you on the climbs, and water running with you on the descents. The only way to find the line in the technical sections was to actually just ride where the water was running. The flats turned into ankle deep bogs of mud. A few new fallen trees and limbs to negotiate and I was home free. I was happy to see Justin's smiling face as he was more than ready to continue the night laps for our team.
Back to the tent for some much needed rest as Sunday morning would prove to be much of the same. Many of the teams in our division did not turn in significant night laps due to the weather, but those who did woke up on Sunday to find a race that was coming down to the wire. By this point, all teams in contention turned in the same number of laps, so it all came down to who could be the fastest on a course where one lap felt like two, and words like traction and control could not find the time or place to be used in a positive manner.When it was all said and done, we emerged with the win! 14 laps in 24hrs 9min. Second place coming in with 14 laps in 24hrs 35min. It was a rough morning, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Sorry Fuji, but the kit was trashed and there was no way I could put it on for the awards shot. The photos on course should make up for it. Thanks to Patrice for the lights, Fuji for the gear and equipment, Troegs and Victory beer for the pain relief, and the Dirt Rags guys and gal for a great weekend.
