Last 12 hour race of the season - somewhat successful

So there was only one more race left in the "Michigan Endurance Cup", the series I wanted to win so bad. And all I had to do was finish at max 2 spots behind Chris, my main competition.

The race was in Pando, similar trail to the first race of the series, only difference was this time it was 12 hours and we went the other way around on the trail.

The race started at noon, I felt pretty good at the beginning, I had 3 riders ahead of me, and Chris was riding my rear wheel. After 2 hours we caught up to the 3rd overall position and raced each other hard for many laps. Finally Chris and I made up some time, so we were riding in position 3 and 4. Halfway in the race I finally started to make up some time on Chris, still feeling good, and another 2 hours later he was back again, right behind me... I knew my series win would still be safe if he would pass me, but somehow I got ambitious and didn't want that to happen. So I pushed a little harder again.


Woo-hoo, another lap done

It was 10:45 at night when I was told I have a 12 minute lead on him. Yeah, finally the hard work payed of. Seemed to me like the pace I maintened was the hardest I've ever gone in a 12 hour event.

OK, now be sure you are not eating when you read the following lines:

I don't know what happened exactly, but knowing I have a good gap on him I changed my pace and took out some speed. That must have messed up my rhythm completely, since out of nowhere I had to throw up. It was somehow funny, since I did it while still pedaling. And I knew there was more on the way, so I decided to stop since a technical section was coming up. That took maybee a minute, and after all the power gel's and Gatorade I had all day long it didn't smell like the regular throw up, but was rather sweet. All right, enough of the details...

A couple of minutes later I was back in the pits, drank a little bit more and headed out for another lap. Now I felt completely dehydrated, and I couldn't drink any more of the Gatorade I had with me. I asked every rider I passed if they have some water, but nobody could help. This lap took forever - but Chris still didn't pass me.

Back in the pits again I had 2 sips of water, and it triggered another throw up session. Some people came over to see if I was OK... ha ha, I wasn't OK at all. I walked over to the timing tent to check if I would still finish 3rd if I'd stop riding now at 11:30, and once I got it confirmed I decided to call it a day - and right at that moment Chris flew by my pit...

The finish in Pando wasn't exactly how I imagined the race should end, but hey - it was good enough to win the endurance cup!

Alex