JUDD MADE THE PODIUM!
3rd Place. 14 laps = ~ 140+ miles in 22 hours and 32 minutes. It was a good day & night, overall. Tedd kicked butt too – finished 7th in the Solo Single Speed category with 11 laps in 22 hours, 29 minutes and 59 seconds.
Back of the Pack Racing definitely overachieved at the 24 Hours of Fury. How did this 6′ 1″ 215 lbs dude pull off the upset? (Ok, 6′ 1.5″ with shoes on, 6′ 0.75″ with no shoes & socks, I think.) What are my training methods? How do I manage 20+ hours of PAIN? It’s for me to know and you to find out.
Well, the experience wasn’t exactly all peachy (or should this son of a Baskin-Robbins owner say – “It wasn’t all Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Mint” – my favorite flavors.) there were some rough times. I crashed hard at mile 47.23, around 5:40 PM. Yep, it hurt, but I didn’t cry. Then I came down with an insane headache. I’ve never experienced a mountain bike induced headache. The cause? Who knows. Maybe the crash, maybe the low altitude, maybe the gross syrup like energy shots I was ingesting, maybe just the Mtn Biking Gods screwing with me.
Funny thing, at about 8:30PM the Devil of 24 Hours entered my head. Quitters QUIT! CRAP! I thought the headache would force me to quit. You can imagine the chaos created by my rogue thoughts. NUTS! Quitters QUIT, Judd wants to QUIT. Will he QUIT……….NOPE.
I suffered through 2 more laps after the crash then decided to get horizontal after mile 70. I spent around 4 hours at the campsite. The headache went away and I returned to action around 12:54AM. I was good to go. I held a steady pace until 6:10AM, took a break for a quick turkey sandwich with Cheetos (of course), then hit the trail again around 6:44AM. 3 more laps, 30 miles and the race was over for me. 142.01 miles, says the GPS. My conservative goal was 150 miles, maybe next time. I’m happy with 142.
Tedd and I rode together at times, and went at it alone at times. Basically we were both in survival mode, and we survived. Of course there were many, many lessons learned. Next big race – 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, February 13th & 14th. The Back of the Pack Racing trio – Judd, Tedd, and Tim will all be riding solo and all riding the famous Black Sheep single speeds. Should be a killer event for the team.
The Old Pueblo race will be a different animal. All the superheroes will be at the race, thus we all need to step up the training, nutrition plan, and mental imagery. Dead Last doesn’t mean LOSER, but a 24 hour race requires one to race for 24 hours. Therefore we can’t let down. So, what’s the game plan for the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo? My plan is to drop 25 lbs and unleash the lean mean riding machine – the rider formally known as The Judd. Stay tuned for details.
Follow the link for the results.
Judd chillin’ at the Saguaro during Friday’s pre-ride.
Tedd setting the insane pace during the pre-ride. Why so fast on Friday? The fear of Javelina making a meal out of us.
Tedd scoping out the competition and preparing for the Lap 1 assault.
Tedd’s 10PM dinner. What the…! Oh yeah, Peanut Butter and Jelly + Cheetos. Is that a bite out of the sandwich? Of course, Tedd always tries the sandwich before the Cheetos make the meal. Just because.
BACK OF THE PACK RACING 
Michelle wants to know why you photoshopped the bikes' Teddy Bears out of the last picture. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
LikeLike