24 Hrs in the Sage. Possibly the greatest 24 hour race, ever. And maybe, just maybe, it’s because of the All Inclusive resort type staging area. KOA Dave and his crew go out of the way to make the race WAY MORE than just a race. And for us dudes and dudettes that really want a break from reality WITH some killer mtn bike riding – this is the race for us.

The Course:

Yeah, 24 Hours in the Sage could be the best 24 hour course in the history of 24 hr racing. The trail is perfect for townies and SS’ers. Manageable climbs and riping downhills. AND there are even a few sections were you can bust your face OR neck! Perfect. AND the few miles on the asphalt ain’t that bad. The asphalt gives the ‘roadies turned dirt freaks’ some miles to stretch it out and feel like a super hero. AND the asphalt gives us mtn bikers a chance to talk, wave, ring bells, laugh and drink beer – that would be ‘one for the road, or ‘a roadie’. (Refer to Definition #2 provided by The Urban Dictionary… a roadie.)

The Results:

Check out the Results.The Link. CAREFUL! If you click on the link – you may download the file, I think.

The 24 Hour Townie World Championship results are first. Because, it’s a World Championship.

The Low Down:

1st Place and 2012 World Champion. The Durango Kiid, aka, Mitch.
2nd Place. Paul – some dude on a green townie
3rd Place and former World Champion. Percase.
4th Place. The Judd
5th Place. The Lt Col
6th Place. Craig – some dude on a Huffy with REAL SKINNY tires.
7th Place and former World Champion. Hurly

The Townie Experience:

• You may ask “Why race the Townie?” Well, why not. It’s good to do new things every once in a while. It’s good to get out of your titanium infused single speed world and once again remember why bikes are so much fun to ride. And that’s why we roll at the Back of the Pack – because we love riding bikes and we do what it takes to make every ride, I mean race, fun.
• The coaster brake. We all ripped the coaster brakes as kids. Try it on serious mtn bike trails and at the phat weight of 200+ lbs. It’s a bit hard to control the speed.
• The Fit. Fit? Yeah right. You’ll never understand the stress on the body when you ride a townie for 18+ hours. There is a reason why bikes are designed in various sizes and why people buy bikes that ‘fit’. Then again. It’s the townie experience.
• The Exhaustion. Insane. You’ll never understand how exhausting it is to ride a townie hour after hour after hour. (And push the townie, of course.) You just gotta do it. I know you want to. You can borrow one of mine.
• The physical pain. It’s about the ‘fit’ and the weight of the ride. In a standard 24 hour race – on my Black Sheep – only my legs get fatigued. Nothing else. At the 24 Hour Townie World Championships – on the townie – every single muscle and bone hurt. The elbows, the shoulders, the back, the feet, the hands, the neck. THE A$$ bones. It’s insane, and it’s all about the riding position and ride. Amazing. 
• The Gear – The Setup. Most people know that riding a single speed is a bit strenuous. The legs and lungs burn, routinely. But riding a townie with a standard townie gear? Wow, even the most basic hills on a mountain bike trail are brutal. We had to walk many hills that would be trivial on the single speed. Maybe it was due to the 52 / 20 ratio, or something like that.

Lessons Learned:

• If you’re riding a townie and your brake foot slips on a rocky steep descent, you may have some problems. The Lt Col will write up an operating manual for a guaranteed graceful recovery.
• As always, we ride at a 24 hr race and we all gain 5 lbs. That’s just reality at the back of the pack. 
• 4 townies is all that you need – to find the right one. Just because you roll in with a FUBAR townie, doesn’t mean you can’t find a ‘rolling chassis’ 2 hrs before the start of The 24 Hr Townie World Championships. Because you can find a townie, an off the shelf townie, 2 hours before the start. 
• If you show up with a 45 lb townie based on a 1937 Schwinn frame WITH a low rider seat, don’t worry you can drop $150 the morning of the race and still have a ride with a low rider seat. 
• That’s right. The seat on my new ride slipped for the 1st 5 laps. Awesome.
• Coaster break at night – on a rocky mountain bike trail. Yeah, that’s gnarly, sketchy, dangerous… but an adrenaline rush. 
• If El Freak says he’d be staying in his own private world, his conservative 24 hr game plan, just nod your head and say “of course, as always”.
• Chaffage? Doesn’t happen on a townie with a plush spring supported seat. BUT your A$$ bones will burn – as if massive bruises developed on Lap 1. The pain in the A$$ bones is so severe that I may have shed a tear or two. Or not.
• You can’t break on HOPE. If you wanna roll through the night, and be safe via smart decisions and technology AND just not HOPE that you can control your speed and line, then get a front brake for you townie. 

Get Real – Well, just a bit of Ludacracy:

• The Adult Diaper. I’ve proven that you don’t need the adult diaper (the schammy) for a 10 day bikepacking trip through Colorado. I’ve proven that you don’t need the adult diaper for 100 miles on a townie. So think about it. 
• Mtn biking ain’t about comfort and style. It’s about the challenge, the environment and the community. So burn that adult diaper and do your part to bring the sport back to the mountains. Do your part to ensure that mtn biking remains mtn biking – not an extension of road biking. Seriously. If you want to go fast and have a smooth ride – stay on the asphalt. 
• JUST JOKING. Seriously, this is AMERICA. You do whatever you want – just keep biking. Keep mountain biking.
• But I am SERIOUS. No more Adult Diapers allowed at the Back of the Pack. We’ll do a diaper check at the start. Ok, maybe we won’t.

The Lt Col Needs Some Help:

We all know that The Lt Col rides like a possessed gorilla. One example. We roll out on our 6th lap and The Lt Col says “We are following The Morale Chairman’s advice – walk early and walk often.” Well, The Lt Col rode more hills on the 6th lap than the 1st lap.  Yeah, walk early and walk often. Unless you are a possessed gorilla and really can’t rationalize that burning feeling in your lungs and legs.

Want to be a World Champion?

I think 2013 will be a break out year for the Back at the Pack dudes, in terms of performance at the World Championship events. I have a plan and I will dominate – at the 2013 24 Hour Townie World Championships. 

What’s my plan? What should your plan be if you wanna be a World Champion?

• Follow the lead of a world champion. Actions speak louder than words.
• Understand the rules, push the boundaries WITHOUT hacking off a world champion – who could call you out. 
• And put some serious thought into your townie rig. Keep it a townie, but push the boundaries. And I ain’t saying anything more. You gotta learn. Just as we are learning how to compete with this group of World Champions.

The Videos:

just because, because I took my helmet cam to the race

A Few Pics – A Controversy?

I only broke out the camera a few times. But here are a few links and a few pics. And a little bit of Back of the Pack fueled controversy.

The Judd

http://Photos.abouttheshot.com/p501093594/slideshow

The Lt Col

http://Photos.abouttheshot.com/p149483134/slideshow

The Durango Kiid – The World Champion!

http://Photos.abouttheshot.com/p45009857/slideshow

The Controversy: On Friday night we hung out with The Durango Kiid, his crew and his wife. The dude gave us a few pointers, which I won’t discuss in an open forum. But if you look at the links to the professional photos, you may wonder why there are way more photos of the phat & slow dudes that got smoked by The World Champion. What am I talking about? Well, maybe us slow dudes are just way more photogenic. Or not.

Townies – the ‘sheep would never get this treatment

the prerace purchase – a phat townie, cuz the 1937 townie had issues

rolling townies – at the back of the pack

the view from the back of the pack

The Data:

We all know you want the data. Right? Ok, I’m probably the only one that likes the data.

Distance: 14.0 miles

Vertical: 1476 ft

The Course

The Ups and The Downs

AND… because you want to hear killer songs and see bitchin’ videos:

I could be the front man for a band like Volbeat. And I ain’t joking.

I could be a groupie for a band like In This Moment.