Friday evening was the first of hopefully more night races. The WEMS Series put on a different type of 12 hour race running through the night rather than through the day. I took off from work a bit early, through a bunch of food, supplies, water, ect. together and headed over to Rock dale for the 12 hours of Pitch Black Single Track.
I got my pit area all set up, registered for the 12 hour solo race, and got ready. I had to run up to the car about 15 minutes before the race and all of the sudden my crank arm got really loose and then just fell off! I looked at it and my retaining bolt had sheared. Fortunately Kenny Ramm who was racing the 3 hour race had an extra bike. All I had time to do was put on my lights and pedals, no seat adjust, handlebar, shock pressure, didn't check the tires, or anything! We took off with a typical run, I was sitting in second (behind Ron who was doing a 6 hour solo) as we got on the bikes and took off. I sat on his wheel for a while and then took a pull which resulted in me getting a gap. Then my light started acting up...in acting up I mean quit working. Ron came around me and I sat on his wheel for the rest of the lap using his light to get through the trails. Back in the pits at the end of lap 1 I swapped out my head light and battery, then took off again. A bunch of people went 
by and I didn't know if any 12 hour solo guys got by me. I went on the attack - yes I said attack after all we were 35 minutes into a 12 hour race. As I was picking off what ended up being all 3 hour racers, my battery bounced out of the holder and fell off the bike. Because I was in such a rush to get going at the beginning of the race I didn't have a chance to put on my back up light, so now I was stuck in the middle of the woods in the dark. I felt around for a bit and somehow found the battery. I stuck it in the holder again and took off. About 1/2 lap later the same thing happened, again I was able to find it but this time put it in my jersey pocket. By the end of the lap I had gotten around Ron again. I made a quick stop for my back up light and for some food and then took off. Lap 3 I lost touch with the rest of the field and was out on my own, the next time I would see anyone was when I started to lap them. At 11pm the trails got a little quieter as the 3 hour racers finished, then at 2am they got really quite when all the 6 hour guys pulled off. Between 2-4am I was hurting bad, I had lapped everyone but the second place guy and although I was putting about 5-8 minutes on him every lap I was not feeling good at all. I kept just spinning and kept trying to find something that would taste good and get me out of the bonk I was dealing with. Finally at about 4am I came up on the second place rider and put him a lap down - Mission Accomplished! That was all it took to get me out of my funk and I started feeling better, now I just had to keep things smooth, not get a flat or crash and I figured I could pull off the win. Once the sun came up things got a lot easier, the laps started getting faster again and I was again having fun riding my bike. At 7am the second place guy didn't have enough time to make up the 2 laps he needed to get ahead of me so we both called it quits.
by and I didn't know if any 12 hour solo guys got by me. I went on the attack - yes I said attack after all we were 35 minutes into a 12 hour race. As I was picking off what ended up being all 3 hour racers, my battery bounced out of the holder and fell off the bike. Because I was in such a rush to get going at the beginning of the race I didn't have a chance to put on my back up light, so now I was stuck in the middle of the woods in the dark. I felt around for a bit and somehow found the battery. I stuck it in the holder again and took off. About 1/2 lap later the same thing happened, again I was able to find it but this time put it in my jersey pocket. By the end of the lap I had gotten around Ron again. I made a quick stop for my back up light and for some food and then took off. Lap 3 I lost touch with the rest of the field and was out on my own, the next time I would see anyone was when I started to lap them. At 11pm the trails got a little quieter as the 3 hour racers finished, then at 2am they got really quite when all the 6 hour guys pulled off. Between 2-4am I was hurting bad, I had lapped everyone but the second place guy and although I was putting about 5-8 minutes on him every lap I was not feeling good at all. I kept just spinning and kept trying to find something that would taste good and get me out of the bonk I was dealing with. Finally at about 4am I came up on the second place rider and put him a lap down - Mission Accomplished! That was all it took to get me out of my funk and I started feeling better, now I just had to keep things smooth, not get a flat or crash and I figured I could pull off the win. Once the sun came up things got a lot easier, the laps started getting faster again and I was again having fun riding my bike. At 7am the second place guy didn't have enough time to make up the 2 laps he needed to get ahead of me so we both called it quits.I was pretty sore but felt a lot better than I should have considering how hard I was going. I took the win in the 12 hour solo mens, and completed the second most laps, only being topped by the winning 12 hour 4-man team!
Huge thanks to Kenny for saving me with his bike, for Ray Nelson for helping with charging lights, the family for stopping out at all hours to cheer, the for the CORP who put on a GREAT race!
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