The 24 Hours of Colorado Spring – 2011 National Championships. Yep, didn’t really happen for me OR The Lt Col. Just one of those things. And it’s been really hard to find motivation to document the Ludacracy that occured, as usual, at the Back of the Pack.

Why the lack of motivation? Well, it’s simple. I’m preparing for a trip of a lifetime – an adventure that will take me far far away. But I’m not on the plane yet. And nothing is guaranteed until it happens. All I will say is that in a few weeks I may be competing in a 24 hour race on a continent that I’ve never been to – a continent that you most likely haven’t been to. And that’s why I have a lack of motivation. My mind is somewhere else.

So. I’ll keep this brief – hopefully you won’t get bored.

The Ludacracy:
Ludacracy is normal, especially when The Lt Col and I roll out on an adventure. But this trip, this race, produced a few moments that are out of the norm.

• On Friday The Lt Col ordered an ‘IPA’. (But The Lt Col ‘implied’ an IPA out of the CASK.) The bartender brought over the usual IPA. Guess what happened next…. The Lt Col SENT BACK the IPA because it wasn’t the CORRECT IPA. Geez. What kind of dude am I rolling with?
• The Lt Col is a pilot and NOT a navigator. AND I am constantly reminded of this. I can’t get into details of this crazy example of Ludacracy, as I don’t want to force The Lt Col into early retirement. Lets just say that we rolled up to a house and The Lt Col jumped out. I said ‘dude, are you sure this is the house?’ The Lt Col replied ‘Yeah, I was just here 2 months ago’. Well, I won’t tell you what happened next – as it’s inappropriate for the general internet community. About 5 minutes later, after the super secret events, we were at the front door. I had $80 of pizza in my arms and almost died laughing when I saw the craziest look of bewilderment on The Lt Col’s face. The Lt Col said ‘Oh s*^t, this isn’t the house’ … as he was trying to run away but couldn’t as pizza boy, The Judd, was blocking the escape route. Yeah, I’ll need to tell you this story in person.
• The craziest crash occurred on Lap 1. Yep The Judd, that would be me, went over the handlebars on Lap 1. No it wasn’t a tricky ‘technical’ descent. I was grinding UP a hill and went over the bars. Yes, I was going up a hill and went over the handlebars. Weird S*^T! Needless to say this started the demons rolling in my head early. Demons at 12:20PM, 20 minutes into the race. That’s weird, but that’s reality.
• We rolled up with a Pink Futon, as a joke – we wanted to add a bit of style to our pit. But the joke turned into a curse, a curse that we will roll with in 2012. That’s right. The Pink Futon screwed us both – but the Pink Futon will make the trips next race season – if I don’t use if for firewood this winter.

The Victory!
Back of the Pack Racing was awarded the best dressed team at 24 Hours of Colorado Springs. No Joke! We finally get the recognition we deserve!

The Future @ The Back of the Pack:
I’ve learned many lessons during the 2011 race season. I’ve made many mistakes in race preparation, race execution. That’s life. But I rarely make the same mistake twice – unless you call rolling with the dudes at The Back of the Pack a mistake. Then that’s a mistake that I repeat over and over and over.

Anyway I’ll roll out a new strategy for the 2012 race season. I’ll show up at a few 24 hour races fully prepared and ready to ‘RACE’. (Yeah right.) And I will roll into a few 24 hour races ready to push up the Ludacracy bar a few notches. That’s right. What do I have up my sleeve,? How about rolling on the one gear and one wheel? The Morale Chairman and I were one wheel freaks back in the early 80s.

Ok. That’s a bit extreme. Maybe I’ll build up a killer townie and compete in the Townie World Championships at the 2012 edition of 24 Hours in the Sage. That’s a realistic goal. I just need to find the right banana seat – a banana seat that can hold a dude tipping the scales at 215 lbs. (NOTE: I did not say Banana Hammock!)

The Course @ 24 Hrs of COS:
There is not much to say other than 13.3 miles and 1316 ft of vertical. People were using the word ‘technical’ for most of the weekend. Sure. You could say that. I rolled with a 32×19 on my 29er – Black Sheep style. That worked. I cleared almost everything by the 3rd lap – EXCEPT for a short section around mile 5.5 or something.