THE EVENT
24 Hours of Adrenalin Mountain Bike Race April 25/26 2009, Hurkey Creek Idyllwild California
TEAM ARC-ZONE.COM
Dr. Denis Iwamoto – www.drivisioncare.com
Mike Tiffany – www.dct-sd.com
Mike Larsson – www.blackmountainbicycles.com
Jason Fabiny
Jim Watson (Joe Welder) – www.arc-zone.com
THE COURSE
Start/Finish Elevation: 4400ft || Highest Point 5200ft
Total Climbing: 1394ft || Each Lap: 9.42miles
Terrain: hardpack/loose single track, sandy fire roads, technical climb, fast flowing, often loose descents
Weather – From daytime highs in the mid 60’s (20.0C) to vicious cold near 27 (-2.2C) degrees in the dark of night!
THE STORY
I’m an avid mountain biker and have a group of guys I ride with most every weekend. One of the guys said “Hey, let’s do the 24 hours of Adrenalin race.” It sounded cool, so we formed a team.
I had raced motorcycles in TT, flatrack, scrambles, and Gran Prix events like Hopetown and Barstow-to-Vegas but, that was a long time ago and I was not prepared for the events that unfolded. First off, I was shocked at how many completely buffed-out people had signed up for this event– men and women who take this stuff seriously. I had to train, Unlike my dirtbike I couldn’t just bolt on a new pipe or add some nitro if I wanted to go faster. I had to completely modify my diet, that meant no more In-n-Out Burgers! Instead of nitro in the tank, I found myself mixing different kinds of chemicals—fuel for my body. This is how it went down; A special drink one hour before, followed by another 15, and 5 minutes before I started my ride. Once racing it continued, 15 and 45 minutes into the ride, then immediately after my stint I mixed a “recovery” drink and ate some pasta. The rest of the time was spent trying to catch a few hours sleep and working on my bike and gear. I repeated the process four more times in the 24 hour event. I hope I never see another package of GU energy! Not even the Cappuccino blast sounds good now.
The race started at noon with a “Lemans style” 1/8th mile foot race to the bikes. After the runners made it through the start shack the next challenge was to get your bike off the rack at the same time as the other racers – let the racing begin!