6 Hours of Power

The 6 Hours of Power was to serve two purposes; training and preparation for the 24 hour race, and a confidence builder. One thing was for sure, the time spent in and around my home town was worth the trip, I only wish I’d allocated more time to spend there and alleviate a little more stress. That alone was probably worth a bit of confidence.

The morning of the race we were a little later leaving than desired, but I didn’t figure it to be a big problem. With at least six hours of riding, I wasn’t going to need much of a warm-up. We arrived at Holiday Valley ski resort about 30 minutes prior to the start of the race. I checked in at registration and we began to unpack the van and take things to the pop up canopy my uncle Jim had set up. He was there supporting my cousin Pat who was also racing. As I pulled my bike out of the van I realized that my front wheel was not there. In my less than attentive state earlier that morning, I’d taken it off, but forgot to put it in the van. Luckily I had managed to throw my back up wheels in, so I had a front wheel to use. The back up front wheel had less than desirable tread on it, but it would have to suffice.

The race started with a Le Mans style running start, everyone scrambling to get to the bikes as fast as they could. I found mine, and took off up the opening climb. I’d ridden it many times several years back, so I was very confident in how hard I should climb it. I passed several people right away. At the top of the hill, the single track began. Fantastic single track, I’d forgotten how good some of it was, even if it was a little damp and greasy in places.

I finished the first lap, just beginning to feel warmed-up. I took a half banana and a fresh water bottle and got on with the second lap. The field had thinned out a bit, so this lap I was able to see more of the trail ahead of me. I had a blast in the single track, riding it relatively fast, even jumping the bike here and there. I felt smooth and confident.

Each lap I came through, I stopped at the pop up, where my mom had a tray full of food selections. I would grab a thing or two, and shove what I could in my mouth and hold on to what I could to finish off as I headed through the timing area at the start/finish line. When I looked through the pictures taken by the professional photographer, it seemed as if they took most of their pictures in this area, my cheeks were puffed full of food in most pictures. The food was extremely important, in order to ride strong for six plus, straight hours I needed to keep calories coming in.

As I finished lap three, my legs were getting tired. By the end of lap 4, all the zip had left my quads, and my hamstrings were feeling a little sore and over-worked. The final downhill was fast, and also steep and rough in places. On a mountain bike this means hovering above the saddle, using the legs as shock absorbers. My calf muscles were now burning by the time I was getting to the bottom of the hill. The bumps and hard braking from the hill, and the overall nature of handling the bike in the single track was taking its toll on my arms too, especially my triceps.

I started lap 5, knowing I had only two laps more to ride. I went up the hill, slowly but surely. At the top, I stopped. The only time the entire race other than at the pit. I felt like I needed to stretch my hamstrings a little. It helped a little, but not enough to warrant the stop. I continued on, slowly. Anywhere the bike would coast, I was coasting. I began to think about making this my last lap. I could just stop at our pit, located just before the finish line and wait until 4pm to finish. (The rules state that you cannot ‘finish’ before the end of the 6 hours. Crossing the line earlier means completing another lap to finish.) I was headed toward a bad place, mentally.

Near the end of the lap, Pat came through to lap me. I sped up and kept with him for a short bit, it made for a quick uplifting moment, seeing a familiar face out on course. I finished out the lap, and essentially forgot that I’d almost thought about stopping. That is until I crossed the finish line and was committed to completing another lap. Any feelings of regret were soon gone and I focused on getting through one more lap. I even found a little hidden drive and strength over the last half lap as I caught and passed one guy that had passed me earlier. I was determined to finish ahead of him, especially since he was riding single speed.

The confidence I was looking for, didn’t come right away. Some of it did, but some of it has come as I reflect and look over the results. Certainly, I rode well. Despite being tired at the end, I felt good, really good. I have felt much worse at the end of far shorter races.

My total riding time was 6 hours 38 minutes 44 seconds. Throw in a few pit stops, and my total finishing time was 6:44:59. I completed 6 laps of the course for 58.26 miles. I was 26^th overall, of 83 solo riders, 43^rd overall of 123 solo riders and two person teams. (Results here)

My lap times were

lap 1 - 1:01:18

lap 2 - 1:00:19

lap 3 - 1:04:44

lap 4 - 1:11:39

lap 5 - 1:15:30

lap 6 - 1:11:29

There are a few pictures here from the day's event.

Pictures from the professional photographer’s site are here. I’m in photo #18, #252, #253, #468, #565

On a side note, Pat finished in first place for the solo riders. Only two of the teams were faster.