12 Hrs of Rim Nordic

24 solo...wow...I don't know if I could make it (or afford it...Adrenalin ain't cheap...$300 smacks)!

 

This was my first 12 hour and I really dug the vibe. My friend and I arrived in the am and really didn't know what to expect with the solo setup. Jason totally took the time to help us out despite the millions of things he must have had going on. He hooked us up with a couple of guys (Brian and Bill I believe, and their crew at the KHS tent), who totally took us in and offered space in their pit, and whatever else we needed. It was the coolest thing ever and really made an impression on me. I also thought everyone out on the course was really friendly, from the beginners to the pros. Great event.

 

I think they have an 8 hour 2 man as well as a 4 hour solo. Or at least they do at the Hurkey race earlier in the year. :?:

 

this 12 was harder the solo 24's for sure! its not cheap ($360 or so by the time you factor in a good camp spot), but i really enjoy them. only bummer now is that its just two weeks before jason's fat tire epic 50 event that i'm planning on too.

 

Sounds like everyone kicked some major arse! Way to go! I think there will be quite a few more of us out there this weekend for the SoCal Cup Series. I think I'll scratch an STR logo onto my arm with a sharpie to see how many people I can "find".
Great reports...I'm totally motivated to do this next year. Congrats to ALL!

 

17 laps won it for the women last year by WS member Mary H.

Congrats to all who raced this past weekend. Steph, Jordan on your podiums. Also Ned and Garrett on their 1st place 2 man SS finish, these 2 guys are really strong riders. Troupe women on their 1st place as well.

Sorry to hear about Neil's wrist.

So what is the Solo Master 40+ category anyway? :-k

 

A bunch of seasoned riders that should probably be racing in the Expert class but they would rather beat themselves up in their own class :lol:

 

Here's Heidi's, my racing partner, RR:
http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2009/06/12-hrs-of-rim-nordic.html#more

The four climbs at Hurkey are not as steep so your legs won't get tired as quickly.

 

The following is based on my first and only experience doing a lap style event at the February 12 Hours of Temecula

Do you get bored going round n round? Not at all. I kept wanting to experience the fun sections of the trail again. Unfortunately the first section of the course was always the hardest for me. Once out there again I was having fun.

Do you find it tedious after awhile? Surprisingly not at all. I really thought it was going to be and did it as a training event for VQ. Turns out I had a total blast.

Is there a certain focus you have to have to keep going? Yes, the same focus one needs to complete anything of this length. Like doing a big road century our double century for sure. Obviously things like nutrition and hydration are key. Having a staffed pit would have been a huge help for me (really could have used a Cup of Noodle once it got dark). Having a team for support at an event like this is one of the biggest reasons I joined Team Sho-Air. Running my own pit and riding solo was really tough once it got late in the day.

Does your back hurt? I don't remember my back hurting personally but I usually don't have too many back problems. Others might. I had a lot of wrist pain. I ended up putting on my writ supports. I have really weak wrists due too many OTBs.

Do you check lap times each time and try to better the previous one? I didn't check for quite a while and then only every few laps. I didn't really care honestly. I just wanted to meet my goal of 6 laps. I used the lap feature on my Garmin to help keep track of my laps. I went out WAY to fast in the first few laps. Put down like 45-50 minute laps and should have been doing 60> minute laps.

Is music allowed? Yes thank God! I had a great playlist. My fav moment was singing loudly to Pear Jam Black around dusk with no one around just riding along.

I am tempted but have always been concerned I'd get bored. Like, "oh, there's that bush again but now someone had knocked a leaf off it" :?:
What keeps you going? The fun of it all.

In closing, I can't tell you how much fun I had. I can't wait for the November event. I'm trying to get some of my buddys to form a team or two so I can see them out there. I'm doing it solo again.

The course was an amazing blast. Super fast and fun with the right about of technical ups and down and swooping fun.

I would highly encourage you to do the November event. Solo or team my biggest recommendation is to have a well planned out strategy going into the event and to have a staffed pit if you can.

 

I think this is a great idea. I was wishing there was something like this a the Nov event. Not being too skilled pacing myself, I kept wanting to keep pace with other riders. It would have helped knowing who other solos were.

I'm really bummed I missed this event. Iceland has been amazing and I would have missed this trip (more here on the trip, http://nomadicbynature.vox.com) just for this event; however, I really wanted to ride this. Next year! Congrats to all those who participated.

 

I was in the 40+ category. I had no idea which category to race in and since I'm between 40 and 50, I thought this would work. As it turned out, the competition in this category was tough.

 

competition in every category was intense. i think 7th place in expert men could have made top 3 in pro.

i raced solo on more of an endurance pace, but it was as if most of the solos are going normal xc pace.

 

This is my first post on STR (since this event was what helped me discover the forum).

I finished 2nd in the Beginner Solo class with 10 laps and really enjoyed this event. Having only started mountain biking this past winter (~6 months) and never raced. I was very anxious about undertaking such a task. My riding buddy and I decided to both do solo after he lured me in with the idea of a 3 man team... then 2 man... then he dropped the bomb: SOLO! bah.

Fortunately everything went well:
1. Great event that went flawlessly, thumbs up to Jason
2. Someone was kind enough to let us put our pit next to theirs (didn't have anyone to staff it)
3. Food/Drinks were adequate even though we had no idea what we were doing. I never fully bonked and was able to ride the whole 12 hrs.

Not enough can be said about how difficult it is mentally. My heart rate was probably north of 170 for most of the time but my mind was the real enemy, constantly fighting with my sanity. Who does ONE activity for 12 hrs straight anyway?!? Crazy...

I really enjoyed interacting with the greater mountain biking community here in Socal and hope that in the future I can meet and ride with more of you.

 

I did a 5-lap training ride at Hurkey a couple weeks ago...I was wishing for Keen Camp & Hurkey Creek climb as I was climbing up those hills at Rim!

Holy Mackerel! What's your secret?!

 

I almost forgot...

On lap 1, about 2/3rds the way up that hellish climbing to the fire road I ran across a racer named Ben Heinz (sp.) who'd busted his chain. He was going to walk back down to his car to get a tool he thought might fix it... I stopped and pulled out my kit and fixed his chain. Made me feel good to actually be able to do that for someone having what could have turned out to be a very bad day. Oh, and it gave me abreak from that killer climb as well. :wave:

- shud

 

Trail Karma!

 

excellent report! good insight and also a great chat w/ Jason. Thanks for the split times to the gate, good data point. I was in the low to mid 20's except for lap 4 where I was 21 and change (4 man team).

wait a minute, this was day 2 of a 3 day block?? what the heck did 'team masochist' do the day after after the race (and the day before)?? ouch, I didn't ride until today (and I only did 4 laps!!)

good luck at breck' !!:bang:

 

Solo Beginner Award Ceremony.
Gentleman in the center won the class with 10 laps,
fleetparadox on right did 10 laps and the gentleman on the left did 9 laps and he won the raffle of a cruiser bike.
Good Job, Guys!
:beer:

 

Yes race weekend was our second in a row where we did 3 big days to get in our last couple big training efforts before tapering for Breck. My legs were somewhat spent going in, but we were practicing racing on tired legs. Anyway, for our blocks we did plenty of climbing and race pace efforts.

Thanks!

 

In a good way, right?... Right? :lol: