24 Hours in the Sage 2013 Race Recap, Part 4: Paradise

 

By Scotty Mac

My third lap starts as more of the same and it’s ridiculous.  I crest Jack’s and start in on the fire road climb, trying to assert some level of dominance over my mutinous back.  It snickers at me, and goes right on being obnoxious.  I try a different tactic, thinking about how cool it is that I’m racing a 24 hour race for the first time in a few years.  I stay just positive enough to ride through Luge without wanting to curl up in the fetal position.

There’s a softly clanking cowbell in the distance, and my light catches an Ascent Cycling vest.  I’ve caught up to David Krycho, he of the “Red Baron’s Solo Mission,” and I’ve never been happier to find a friend in my life.  He hears me coming, the whole area could hear me that night, and moves over.  “No Dave, you’re fine, dude!  Keep going,” I manage to gasp out.  “You sure, Scotty?  I can’t go any faster right now,” he says.  “Neither can I,” I say.  We both laugh.
Instantly, the lap goes from awful to fantastic.  David and I talk the night away, swapping race stories.  He loves the Specialized Epic 29er, finding it perfect for just this sort of event.  He commends me for going it single speed, and I fire the compliment right back for his solo effort.  The good parts of riding come back to me, and even my light failing on Sea of Sage isn’t enough to deter my uplifted mood.  I planned for the possibility of an outage, and brought along a backup light.  A quick exchange and we’re off again.
I take point on Hell Mile, and we rail Beck’s, careening through the blackness.  Coming off The Notch, Dave moves to the lead and I get the luxury of riding in his draft on the road all the way back to camp.  It’s like all my birthdays and Christmases have come at once as I don’t have to shatter myself to make good time on the one speed.
The lap is the slowest of the three, but it doesn’t matter by then.  I’m all smiles as I tag off to Mandi Conley, even as I suspect my race is done.  No amount of care will set things right with my back.  I thank Dave profusely for riding with me, and he does the same.  Patrick Cross comes in from his lap not long after we do and I give him a thumb’s up and a smile, letting him know that I turned things around.  We’re all stoked for each other, sharing that late night solidarity 24 hour racing brings.  I enjoy my shower and food, and crawl back into bed, satisfied that if my third lap was it, well, at least I went out on a fun one.
My suspicions are confirmed as I turn off my alarm at 7:30 a.m and groan in pain from the movement.  There’s no way I can go again.  Mike Hartman is back from his fourth lap, another stunner, and I tell him as much.  To his credit, he’s sympathetic, though it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he’s also a little disappointed.  Lord knows I am.
I stop by Mandi’s tent and let her know I’m done.  I tell her that she can take her fourth lap whenever she wants, sooner or later, whatever.  “Honestly Scotty, I think I’m done, too.  That last lap was super-tough,” she says.  “Well alright, then.  Let’s pick Brian up as a team when he comes in,” I say.
Once more, Brian Conley comes in off his lap with metronome-like consistency.  That first lap mechanical is nothing more than a memory.  He sees me in civvies and knows my day’s over.  We all congratulate him on another excellent lap and walk back to camp.
Our day ended just after 9 a.m. Sunday, August 25th.  It wasn’t 24hours, but it was enough all the same.  Our fourteen laps is two shy of our goal, but none of us feel cheated.  We kept our third place, and cheered on the rest of the Ascent Cycling crew as each team found its end.
“Red Baron’s Solo Mission” did one lap beyond his goal, finishing with seven.  Dave tells me he enjoys racing solo because he can ride at his pace and not worry about holding up his teammates.  I tell him ruefully that I know the feeling, but I’m grinning all the same.  My teammates were nothing short of outstanding.
“Ascent Cycling” takes second in the coed duo category, tallying thirteen laps.  Lane Sherman and Justine Gehrett are equal parts ecstatic and exhausted.  Later in the day, I swipe Lane’s glass of Scotch from literally under his nose as he naps in a camp chair.  He doesn’t even notice.  It’s a truly excellent Scotch.

“Sofa King Townies” blends fun with result, knocking out fourteen laps.  Pat, Kal Farmer, Clay Allison, and Justin Holmes-Winters ride the course with style, their townie bikes clunking and drifting through the sage.  They set the bar high for future townie teams, both in pace and style.

There is an awards ceremony and I shake the awards presenter’s hand as my team’s name is called.  The awards presenter is none other than mountain biking legend Dave Wiens.  I successfully restrain myself from nerding out.
We are tired and happy.  There was weather, mechanicals, “offs,” and despair, but there was also laughter, phenomenal racing, excellent food, and great friends.  24 hour racing is all these things and the 24 Hours in the Sage 2013 stands alone in its effort to put the fun back in mountain bike racing.  In my mind, the race and its cast of characters reign supreme.  I hope you all make the pilgrimage to Gunnison, CO some August to live the spectacle, as racer or as fan.
It is mercurial.  It is painfully great fun.  It is a thing called the “Kal-zone.”
It is paradise.
Mac out.