Thursday, May 29, 2008

Hunting for the 24

I have been searching all day for more and more 24-hour events. After all my searching I've concluded there are not enough of these events. If you asked me before this last event at Laguna Seca, I would have labeled myself a downhill/gravity/whatever inclined rider. The endurance aspect of riding kept me healthy, kept me on two wheels, but ultimately filled the space between events when I was able to point the wheels downhill and fly. The downhill and fly part are the same, but 24 hour racing has opened up a whole new element to riding! The problem with most events is that basically they are over in a matter of a couple hours, which always left me with a little hangover since you spend so much energy to get pumped up, and basically are sent home immediately after. Secondly, we show up at these events with friends, and ultimately are forced to compete with one another. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE competing with my friends!! The fact that Dusty beat me at this years Sea Otter XC makes me want to wake up in the early AM hours and crank out laps all the more!! But, I hadn't yet realized what it would be like to combine each of these people's riding skills and abilities into one! The 24 hour event required that of us, and we all so found that we were driven to push as hard as we could every single lap, and that that effort in the end benefited the whole team. That feeling alone created a tribe for 24 hours, and we have been living on that high for weeks afterwards! Personally, I'm ready for the next fix! I'm so proud to say that when it comes to these events, we have a TEAM. Zach, Dusty, Covey, Stacy, Davies and I with the help of Cyndie our awesome volunteer and hopefully a future rider! I just can't wait for the next event and for recruiting new riders like Dave, Novarro and Hutch and branching out into new catagories! There are events to come, and in the meantime lets get out and play, train, race local events. I'm going to list a few below as considerations. Most of the non-CA events require some travel, but a few are doable! Until next time, I look forward to seeing the CyclePathic Tendencies lining up once again!!

24 hours of Chamberlin

Granny Gear 24 hours of Moab

Montezuma's Revenge

24 hours of Adrenaline: Canmore, Alberta World Championships

2 comments:

Dusty & Cyndie said...

I also think we have the ability to podium in our category with that many strong riders, and i like winning!

Dusty & Cyndie said...

Jesse you should add http://www.core-therapy.com/ to your links.