This past weekend, Liz and I loaded up her Infinity with 2 mountain bikes, and lots of gear and headed on a 6.5 hour drive through Flagstaff, north through Navajo Nation and onto Cortez Colorado. We encountered miles of desolate land and even a dust and rain storm along the way. At the moment the sun set over the horizon, we pulled into town, got some food to grill and headed to the fairgrounds where it was tent city. We found our friend Tricia and a group of her friends from Utah. We were racing the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde as a quad team (Tricia, Liz, Kelsey (from Utah), and me). The event started at 7am so we got some food on the grill, ate, and hit the sac. Kelsey was off first in the morning but we all needed to be up early. I pulled out Aaron’s bivy sac and curled up in my little cocoon under the bright starry sky.

The morning was chaos with people running all over the place, getting ready for the start. Liz and I were getting our numbers and figuring out how the transitions worked and where the course would go. We got in too late to pre-ride but knew we would be fine. The start of the race was like the Fourth of July celebration. The cyclists going off first (Kelsey would be our first rider off) lined the top of the hill. Their bikes were in the fairground arena. Cannons went off, followed by fireworks and the cyclists ran 400 meters down the hill and to their bikes. I held Kelsey’s bike. It was like a stampede as they came running into the arena. I watched hard for Kelsey and spotted her. She was a fast runner and in a great position. I handed her bike to her and she took off.

I was second in line so I hurried back to the campsite, got some breakfast, coffee, and kitted up. Soon I headed into the barn where the transitions took place. We had to lay our bikes on the ground, just outside the barn so when our teammate would come running in, they would hand us a wooden clothespin and we would take off running to our bike. Each time you went out or returned from a lap, you had to check into this table with your rider number. It was a system to keep track of teams and lap times. They also had a special table with two computers where you could type in your bib number and you could see updated results of your placing and lap times.

When Kelsey came through, I took off on my lap. The field had thinned out enough so it wasn’t too bad for passing riders or getting passed. The entire course was on single-track. It was a fun lap as it looped around and over some rock ledges. I think since I hadn’t ridden, I didn’t overthink my ride and was able to clear everything. My upper body had quite the workout! I came through the 16 mile course with a lap time of 1:28. Tricia was next and she took off!

Since we had 4 riders, you had almost 4-5 hours of down-time in-between your next lap. That time was spent sitting, chatting, and walking back and forth to watch riders come in and another rider go out on their lap. Twice I saw a team of women doing a baby hand-off. The woman that was heading out on her lap had baby boy in hand and the other rider would come in, she would grab the baby with her free hand and roll her bike in with the other hand. The baby seemed pretty chill and ok with the fact that he got handed off to multiple women! I thought this was a more legit hand-off than using the clothes-pin! My brother in-law Evan and his girlfriend Tiff were also at the event so I spent some time looking for them. Evan was racing duo so he was usually out riding but every now and then I would see him in between laps.

We were sitting in 3rd when it was time for my 2nd time around. I was amped up to try to pass some women! The clouds loomed ahead and there were signs it would rain. I changed out the lenses in my glasses to accommodate and got my hydration pack ready. Last lap, I had just carried a bottle but found the course to be so technical that it was hard to reach down to grab it and take a drink. When Kelsey came through, I took off on a mission. Immediately, I started passing people and making grounds. Each mile of the course was marked so I kept track of my pace. I was averaging just over 5 minutes per mile. I knew the course this time, so I was able to flow through the turns much more efficiently. I had my mojo and was cruising with good time. As I hit the midway mark, a bolt of lightning broke through the clouds and it started to rain. The rain was cold but refreshing. It motivated me to push harder. I kept moving and the rain kept coming down. As I reached the rock ledges, the rain had puddled and the rocks became slippery. I slowed my pace to be a little more cautious. I was still making ground and passing women – hoping that one of them would be in our category. There was no way of telling except I had remembered a team checking into their transition with purple skirts and I thought they might be in our category. I passed the girl with 4 miles left on the course. It was still raining. More rock ledges and I started to get a little sloppy as I was overly cautious. I had to unclip a few times where on the previous lap; I would have just cleared the rock. The trail winded around and made a loop-de-loop onto a bmx-like area. You didn’t want your wheel to catch air because your front wheel would come down hard onto soft dirt and the chances of wiping out were high. I controlled my speed and smiled with glee as I rode through my playground. I was on another lady’s wheel and she was slower on the hills but fast on the descents. Finally, as we were close to the end, I passed her and hurried to the barn where Tricia was off.

I was done. Kelsey had an outdoor shower on her pop-up camper and it even had hot water! It was extremely refreshing as I was caked with mud.

Both Tricia and Liz had awesome laps and we ended up finishing 2nd! The team that beat us was a group of young 19 yr olds from Durango but sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company. When we got on the podium, they shook everyone’s hands and gave each of us a chocolate bar!! Now, I am totally ok with getting beat by someone who hands you a chocolate bar!!

Evan ended up finishing 4th overall in his duo which was pretty amazing considering he lives in Crested Butte and has only ridden a total of 10 days before the event!

The event ended with a dinner celebration in the barn for all the participants with free beer and pasta. We camped the night and did another ride before heading home.