Chainbuster Racing 9 Hours of Jackrabbit Mountain in Hayesville NC

This video sums up the beginning of the day quite well.  Everyone lined up, made a few jokes, and tried to hide the butterflies that we all get in our stomachs before a race.  It reminds me of when I was a little kid, and I had to stand in front of the class to give some kind of class presentation.  Awkward and nervous.  In this video you see the starting line, a little extra road that was only used in the first lap, and, and the part we used every lap.  Also, you get to see all of the riders turning into the singletrack and preparing for battle in the woods.

Hey, don't forget your Emergen-C Everyone!!!

I like to start in the back of the race during a 9 hour event.  For one thing, I'm going solo.  I won't maintain as high a speed as the 6 hour racers, so I don't want to be in their way.  Another reason is, I'm on a Singlespeed.  One gear.  There is a generally 'happy pace' that I will fall into and try to maintain that.  If I climb, I usually catch a bunch of geared riders and on a descent, a few of them might catch me.  All-in-all though, I really enjoy starting in the back of the herd.   Well, except for this one time at Jackrabbit....

The night before the race I mounted a new tire to my front rim.  Tubeless rim, not a tubeless tire.  This is usually no big deal.  Stans-No Tubes sealant will take care of it.  It always does.  But then, fluid kept pouring out of the area immediately surrounding the tire valve.  Finally it stopped and I went to bed.   After 3 hours sleep, I drove up to Hayesville NC, and began unloading the car for the race.  The front tire was flat again.  Hmmm, I pumped it back up, and again fluid started pouring out of that same area.  I put some more Stans fluid in, and pumped it up again.  Seemed to hold.  The tire was feeling fresh and solid for the making of the above video...   but about 3 miles further it was almost flat.  I just passed a few people and now I had to stop...   it's almost maddening to see people pass you, that you just passed with ease.  But it happens to everyone at some point.  I pulled out my tiny crank brothers pump, and went to work.  After a couple minutes I was on my way again.

In 2 more miles it started feeling soft again.  I had passed a few riders for a second time.  Maybe even a dozen or more.  I didn't want to stop.  I climbed to two largest climbs in the course with about 10psi in my tire.  That's a bit sketchy to be sure...   every time I pressed down on the fork, the tire would try to fold over and toss me off the bike.  It was about 10 times worse on the long descent...   so I finally stopped to try to fill it up again.  This is when I noticed what a serious problem I had.

See how my valve stem went INSIDE the rim...   Not a good way to start the race. 

I will illustrate this for you.  Most people recommend re-filling the Stans-Fluid in your tubeless set up every two to three months.  I never heard anyone talk about replacing the tubeless valve-stem though.  Apparently the rubber on my valve had shrunk down to about 1/2 the normal (original) size, and when I tightened the nut on the outside of the rim, it pulled the whole stem into the middle of the rim.  Now I would not be able to get it tight...  or stable.  That's why it wouldn't seal.  It was a miracle it even re-inflated one time.   Now, I'm 4.2 miles from the end of the first lap, and have no choice but to run with my bike.  I haven't run more than 1 mile in 3 months...  great.  Just great.....but almost as soon as I started my run, I started feeling better.  I was still kind of angry at myself, but running always makes you feel good.  Even though I ran into my pedals a few times and that hurts like hell, it couldn't take away my runner's high.  I knew that running in the first lap was a catch-22.   If I ran too hard, I would not be able to pedal as far later on in the day, but if I didn't run, I would lose precious time to finish as many laps as possible.  I just moved into 3rd place in the series points before this race, so I knew I had to push the envelope to hang on to that spot.

Recognizing an issue when you see it... Not me!!! The tire!!!

I finished that first lap in just under an hour and a half.  A friendly racer in the tent next to me helped remove my tire from the rim and then we started surgery.  The valve stem would not come out of the rim.  The Stans ZTR-355 had been hungry it seemed, and this valve was between two layers of metal.  I carried over to my plastic cooler, and hit it with my BFH...   or  BIG F$%)IN HAMMER, until it came free.  Then, we realized the metal layer of rim on the inside actually broke slightly, producing a razor sharp shard of metal.  This would reduce the lifespan of any innertube we threw in to the wheel from months down to mere seconds.  Having another quick MacGuyver moment, I asked Charles Weaving Jr. if he had a cheap round patch.  I told him "Lets cut a tiny hole into the middle of it, and fit it around the tire valve, so it protects the base of the tube.  We did it, and it worked all day long.  Not a bad fix at all.

I came out of the pit area screaming fast that lap, trying to make up as much time as I could.  My calves burned every pedal stroke from the morning jog, and I didn't think I would make it long before I cramped up and had to stop.  My body surprised me.  I never had a single cramp.  I was close a couple times, but nothing worth stopping for.  I took a GU Gel every lap, alternating between the ones with caffeine and the ones without.  I ate shot bloks by Clif Bar.  I drank my Carbo-Rocket Half Evil 333 mix all day from my camelbak.  All of it must have worked perfectly...

CarboRocket, organic, effective, and easy on your stomach.

After 6 laps, I asked a young guy named John (who just finished his first 6 hour solo) to see what kinda position I was in.  John ran down to the timing tent, and back, telling me I was only 3 minutes out of 4th place.  "How many are in my class today?"   I asked him.   John's reply: "Umm five."  Okay, I had work to do.  Back on the saddle, back to the pedals.   I went pretty fast that lap, caught a few other riders from other classes, but didn't see anyone I knew until 3/4 through that lap.  I caught up with racer Jono Senk, who is a pretty hardcore rider.  Apparently Jono had wrecked into a tree and dislocated his shoulder, but was still riding 2 laps later.  We chatted for a bit and finished the lap together, after passing another friend, Brian Young.

Army Ranger Jono Senk, rode for a few more laps with a dislocated shoulder.... SICK

I had to stop after that lap to grab a fresh bottle since I knew I was getting low on water in my camelbak.  Grabbing a bottle is much faster that refilling the bladder.  Back out i went!  This would be my 8th lap and final one due to the time left on the 9 hour clock, every pedal-stroke had to count.  I came blazing through and jumped off the bike at the end.  I thought for sure I had accomplished something.  All day felt like an accomplishment.  I found out a while later that I made it to 4th place.   However, the guy who was in 4th, as it turned out, was actually placed in the wrong class of racer.  (The accidentally placed him in the 'Sport' category, when he should have been in the 'Expert' category.  So, once they straightened that out, only 4 guys were in my class.  Looking at the lap times, I'm sure I would have been on the podium if it weren't for that flat tire problem  Missing it by a lap just gives me more fuel to want it next time.  I got this!

The first two of my lap times were terrible because of my mechanical.  Only one person is to blame for that... ME

A few days later, I looked at the series points on the ChainBuster Racing website, and noticed something great!  I just moved up in points to the number 2 spot!  The previous 2nd place guy didn't show for the race so I moved right up there.   This is great!  If I don't have any mechanical failures and can continue to train hard enough,  I have a very strong likelihood of staying in 2nd for the whole series.  Woohoooo!!!

Thanks for reading everyone!  Next update:  24 hours of GA.  SOLO.   This one is going to HURT