Fight Like A Brave - 24hrs of 9 Mile Race Recap

I usually have goals for things like the 24hrs of 9 Mile. This time was a little different. If you follow the blog at all, you know that post-TransIowa has not been the land of rides and racing but simply trying to sneak training in when I could. So, while I did hope to crack the top ten, that was about all I considered. I really planned to go up, ride for a while then hang out. I thought I would end up helping Sam take care of Cameron, aid BKB crew to a National Championship or enjoy giving handups to Dallas and Paddy.

Somehow, despite fucking a lot of things up, I had a pretty good ride. Officially Sixth Place Solo Single Speed.

Remembering the weekend is just a mangled mess in my head, so here are chards that you can put together as you wish.

- I cramped big time on my third lap. At one point, I finished a small climb to have both of my quads sieze up on me. It was like standing with two pencils for legs. I hopped back on and started to spin them out. At that point, I got slapped in the back of the head, heard "Come on, BKB" and a BKB jersey moved passed me on the left. I thought it was Jesse but then saw Jesse in the pits and he said it wasn't him. I probably imagined the whole thing.

- Change your freaking brake pads and batteries. I ran that latter half of one lap with no rear brakes and lost my main light source for half of another and had to finish with my commuter light. Genius.

- Lap Six Honored Joe Patridge. Throwing Chain all over the place.

(Apparently, I decided to start with the mistakes.) On to the good stuff...

- I popped out of the woods as my body was finally getting back in order and the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Fight Like A Brave" was cranking loud as hell. I think I sang that for the remainder of the lap and off and on for the rest of the race. It was perfect.

- Dallas is a great guy to get passed by or share a rain soaked tent with. We kept bumping into each other on the course and when the rains hammered down we were stuck waiting it out together. Tip of the Hat to you, my man.

- RF gave me some positive vibes at just the right time out of the course. Congrats to you and the crew on 3rd place.

- Much love to Corey, Sam, Cam's Dad Doug Chambers and Mrs. Snob for all of their help during the race. So much of the race was spent trying to catch my body back up to where it should be and they all helped me get that done.

- Corey and I had a great plan of attack for the remaining part of the race. I only wish we had gotten to use it. As wierd as it may sound, I was feeling my strongest in the 21st hour of the race.

Not my best race recap, but my hands are still tingling and disfunctional from the race and my mind isn't quite straight yet. Check the links. Lots of great people with great rides over the weekend. On to the visuals...

The Dream people were chasing.


Marko ready to Kill Those Dreams.

The Darkness goes in search of your soul.

Let the fun begin...
Keep Smiling, tough guy. Here come the cramps.

How about that 5th Place?