12 Hours of Port Jervis. I'll start with what I told Deejay at the finish. While I loved the course, I also wanted to punch him in the face. It was so brutal but so much fun. I think the last time I did a 12+ hour race was 2011. I did the good ol 24 Hours of Mooch 2 times. And did the 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey in 2011. Someone was asking at some point - how do you prepare for these? I don't think there is a way. It's just mental games/toughness that helps you get through. My plan was to ride within myself and not put out any sharp efforts. If I felt myself breathing heavy or having to work too hard, I would dial it back. I'd try to get a bunch of good laps for the first 4 -6 hours and then see what happens from there. Either continue on, or stop and drink beer. So with that we get to the racer meeting, chat about details and then stage for the le mans start.
Everyone lines up and gets ready to hoof it to our bikes. Of course I line up with a full bottle in my back pocket, so that's always great running. I have to take that out of my pocket and then brace the rest of my repair gear in my pocket as we run the 1/8 mile of gravel back to our bikes. I jump on and get in the conga line and just try and get into a groove. The best I could tell I was in 12th place as we headed away from the start. As the lap progressed, there was a little mixing up, but it was calm and collected. It was fairly comical though - at least for me. As soon as I passed someone, or someone passed me, there would be an equivalent the other way so I was always in 12th. For me that kept my interest for a little bit. I knew there were other groups mixed in like teams and what not, but I tried to settle into a good pace that wasn't too taxing. The course was pretty amazing. 3 main climbing sections - one fireroad, one new singletrack, and then the rooty singletrack climb to the flagpole. I knew those were my spots to watch my efforts. If I went too deep I would be cooked and game over. There was one rough tech section that was pretty easy to navigate, when dry, and the rest of the trails were just some good ol shaley PJ singletrack. Rocky, rooty, loamy, smooth, you name it. Cruising into the first lap, I came through at 47 minutes. Shit this was going to be a long day if I stayed the course. Doing the calculations, I thought an average lap would end up around an hour, so maybe 11 or 12 laps to finish. If they stayed shorter, and I kept going, this was going to be a really long day.
Fast forward to lap 3 and there was a little bit of excitement. I knew Nelson was off the front and ripping so he was out of my head. I knew there were some strong guys behind, and I had no idea how far behind. Mid way through lap 3 Alex comes up and passes pretty solidly. He was looking good and pulled away and I resisted the urge to chase as it was only lap 3. That would have been too much of an effort. I was wondering how he would keep that pace as well, but the next few laps would tell. I just kept pedaling and finished lap 3. All of my first laps were 47 minutes. I had all of my bottles out, and was using liquid nutrition so I literally did not have to put a foot down for the first 4 laps. After that I would have to at least stop and hit my cooler, then go for the next lap. So that was 3 laps in well under 3 hours.
Lap 4 I was just doing my pace again and Emrah comes flying by on the gravel climb, I knew him and Nelson should end up on the box, so I didn't know what took him so long. He looked solid so I wrote him off and figured I'd be hopefully seeing Alex again so we could fight it out for 3/4th place. Lap 5 I see Alex again. This time he was on the side of the trail as he had a small puncture. He said he was good and I kept on pedaling and wondering when I'd see him again. He said he had some pizza waiting for him and I was definitely jealous, but I'd get to pizza soon enough after the race. As the laps went on I started to spin some slower laps. I was bleeding a few minutes here or there - and there was some quick stopping to dig through the cooler etc... It was expected so it was all good. By the end of lap 7 I was running a 54 minute lap. I was still happy with that and I still felt good. It was just below 6 hours and I had 7 laps completed. And just towards the end of the 7th lap the rain started. I knew that there was a probability of rain, but was hoping it held off. It didn't, but it was a welcomed relief.
Now that it was raining, it cooled everything down. It was starting to get hot and humid. The rain helped the temps, but made the course a bit tricky. It changed my race lines. Places where I could just fly I had to really pay attention again. It was like race #2 had started. I don't mind the conditions, so I just kept it rolling. The good part was that I was done with liquid nutrition and now onto PBJ sandwiches. Once I switched to solid food I felt my energy pick up a bit. I think my body was just getting tired of the liquid stuff. I would still see racers here or there, but once the rain started the course felt much more empty. A few times I wondered if I was the only idiot left out there still racing.
Lap 9 or 10 I was still at it, and wondering where all of the other racers were. As I went through the transition tent I wondered what place I was in, but there was no obvious leader board and I didn't want to waste time asking so I just kept on it. I was waiting for Alex to come back to me and pass again so I stuck to my plan. Mid way through the lap, here's Alex, but this time I'm passing him. He looked like a ghost. I asked if everything was good and he just said he was suffering. I said we're all suffering and told him to keep it rolling.
The remainder of the laps the rain was still back and forth and conditions not really getting any worse, at times even drying a bit. With lap times going out a bit I kept doing the calculations, 3 laps to go, 2 laps to go, only 1 lap to go yes! I could finally pedal! For the last one, I was not super energetic but I wasn't destroyed. I pedaled harder where I told myself not to earlier and just wanted to get the lap over with. I debated between "party pace" and racing and racing won. I wanted to get finished, get out of my kit, and get a beer! I hit the transition tent for one final check in and I was done. I finished in 11:35 with 13 laps. It was good enough for 3rd place!!! I finished happy, but battered. My hands and shoulders took the beating. My legs felt surprisingly good. I got beer, waited for the podiums, then went and got pizza. It was one hell of an event. Thanks to Deejay and the Starcrawf guys for putting on one hell of a cool and brutal event.
I know I've said it before, but I thought over the past couple of years that my racing days were over. This journey I've been on the past 4+ months has let me know that there's still the racer inside me, and that getting healthy has major benefits. Not only has my enjoyment in/on/around the bike been better, but it's made me just happier in general - at home, at work, everywhere. I need to remind myself of this when I get in a rut again and realize how much better things can be when I work at it.