24 Hours of Summer Solstice!

It was the 24 Hours of Summer Solstice Race at Albion Hills. This is the largest 24 hour relay mtb race in N.America.  And coming into the park it was amazing.  Seeing families, kids everywhere camping out.  The atmosphere reminded of when we used to take part in dragon boat race festival.  Except way less asians, and less asians hawking whatever free stuff there was, even if they didn't need it.  The point was, it was FREE.
I've known about this race now for years.  But this is my first time ever participating in the event.  Got an invite from Raoul if I could do a lap.  17km doesn't seem like much but on a mountain bike it's 1hr of hammering on single and double track.

My energy levels had been low recently and usually for me that means a low CBC or something related to my blood condition.  And I had gone out that morning on my road bike to do a ride.  But the fatigue got to me and I headed home.  Figured I'd better head home to rest.  My body was telling me something.

Then I got a BBM.  "Hey do you want to do a lap for our team for the 24HR Summer Solstice Race?"
"When is it?"
"umm, today."

I completely forgot it was the Summer Solstice.  I should have clued in, since the Junction Summer Solstice Festival is on.  Duh.

I wasn't feeling great, but the weather was awesome and I've always wanted to do this race.  I think I mentioned to Raoul that if he needed a rider, I would do it.  So I said "OK"... after I asked Tresa if it was okay with her.  And she let me.  So that's when I said "OKAY!"
My energy levels seemed to go up from there. I think because I was excited.  Or it could have been from the swedish berries candy I got from Shoppers when I picked up a box of Reactine for Kieran, since it was on sale.

So I had to make sure I had eaten, Cut the Cheese was closed yesterday for a private function and because of that I promised to take Kieran today.  And finding parking was a challenge.  I remember last year this was a problem, but just south of Annette I managed to get a spot.

And this is when we saw the juggler (video), and the chalk artist as we made our way to Cut the Cheese.

I would have liked to have walked up and down the street, but I needed to rest up, just knowing how my body was feeling currently.

I've ridden Albion many times before with Raoul and his co-workers and some team riders.  And so I knew what to expect.  And it usually takes me around 90 mins of huffing and puffing and struggling to keep up with them on the single track and seeing which fork they took and watching them bomb down the double track at high speed.

This is the last 100m of the course and the finish side.

At first I was to be scheduled for my lap at 9pm.  Which meant the sun would be setting on my lap.  Which would make it challenging. But then I got a new message if I could come earlier.  Woo hoo! I get to ride in day light.
But then I find out it'd be around 7-8pm.  So the sun will be close to setting when I finished and in the woods it darkens sooner.  And my eyes are getting worse in low light.  Getting old sucks, btw.

I waited for Raoul to go so I knew better when to expect him.  6:51pm.  He'd arrive just under 59mins later.  It was 7:50pm when I finally got on my bike and headed out.
Beforehand, I had the guys check out my tire pressure and they recommended to let some air out.  32psi rear - 27 psi front.  It made a difference.
I started out and was already feeling fatigued and still had a 15km to go.  I knew I had to pace myself or else I'd be done.  Especially on the hills.  Blow up and there's no recovery.

I had to have a helmet light and a tail light. I didn't turn them on right away since it was still day light, but as I made my way 1/2 way through the course I turned it on since it was getting tough for me to see the bumps in the track.
The Norco team guys are so nice.  They told me that this wasn't an intense thing.  But to do my best, and enjoy the ride.
Also their tent is super close to the start/finish and next to the Expo. It's a sponsor perk.  They also have amazing gear.  The helmet light I had was 1000 lumens.  It lit up the track like it was daylight. Didn't help me though when I went endo coming out of a rock garden.  Luckily I landed in some bushes and not trees.  I was fine, just a scrape on my right ankle.  After that I always took the easy route on the right and left the hard route to the experts.  I tried my best to lay off the brake and let the bike ride down the track.  But my single track skills stink.  So I used the brake, but when I saw some others, I wasn't too bad.

I got passed by a 6 or so riders, but I also passed about 5 or 6 riders.  So I felt pretty good, I passed most riders on the uphills.  My road riding fitness definitely helps here. I did get passed by 2 fat bikes.  You can just hear them banging along the trail. And there were 2 young teens that passed me.  Wow.  And I did pass this one fellow who I asked if he was a solo rider to which he replied "no not solo..i'm just sloowww."

I'm in for next year!
Photos
Ray's lap - Strava