24hr in the Old Pueblo

Another installment of the best 24 hour race in the country just went down in the desert outside of Tucson, AZ. This was the 10th year of the 24 hours in the Old Pueblo and I really can't say enough good things about it. The Epic Rides crew run a flawless race and if you ever need an excuse to go on a road trip and want guaranteed fun, then check out one of their events. Next up is the Whiskey Offroad in April and it is going to be a good time. It is 25 or 50 miles of singletrack in the pine trees of northern Arizona.Whiskey is already in the name, how could it be bad!
I didn't take many pictures or even remember all that much cool stuff to tell you about here. But the trail was amazing, the people were super nice out on the course, and my support was second to none.
The race started at noon on Saturday with a half mile run down a dirt road to our bikes. I decided that the run should be done in my ape suit while chasing Kate dressed as a banana.

Once all the fun and games were over it was down to the business of riding for the next 24 hours. Just me, my single speed, and a simple message written on the back of my legs.

The first 75 miles went by with such little effort it surprised me. I was eating good, thanks to my support crew, and going into the night things were looking very promising. After about 100 miles everything went to shit. The sub freezing temps and dehydration took their toll and by sun up all I could do was squeeze out one more lap.
After all was said and done the The Black 13 ended up 11th place covering 8, 16.5 mile laps for a total of 132 miles on dirt with one gear.

Full results are here and lots of good pictures and better reports over at drunkcyclist.com and handlebarsandwich

Now its up to the Rochester boys to post up some goods on here, I have been neglecting my 20inch for the past 4 months getting ready for this event and now it is time to go be a skate park rat for a while.

I just want to thank everybody for the help at the race, Kate, Garn, English Steve, and Chad. I couldn't have done it without you. Many thhanks to Todd and his crew at Epic Rides for putting on such a great event and many thanks to all the nice people out on the course supporting this solo with their words of encouragement.

get out and ride.