Congrats to Joel for racking up an impressive 428 miles in this year's
National 24 Hour Challenge, in spite of some stormy weather and the course
getting routed around a downed power line.


From my point of view:

I arrived in Middleville around 4pm on Friday, and pulled into the
school parking lot at almost exactly the same time as my Dad and my
Nephew.   I picked a spot on top of a knoll to set up my tent, knowing
that we were due for some rain sometime during the 24 hours.   I hung a
sign with my name on the tent so my RW friends would know where I was.
I picked up my registration packet, gave the crew information to Dad,
and then I headed home for dinner and to sleep, while Dad and Dexx
headed to dinner and then to sleep in the camper.

Saturday started with an "Oh, crap!" moment when I overslept my alarm
and woke up at 6:00 instead of 5:30.   I hurriedly got dressed, grabbed
a bowl of cereal, and headed out.   Arriving at the school, I pulled up
next to Dad's truck in the overflow lot, moved my cooler, spare wheels,
floor pump, and gear into Dad's truck, pulled my bike out of the
Forester, and headed for the school.   When I got there, I found that I
had unknowingly set up my tent right next to Brian and Nancy.

While Dad attended the crew meeting, I attended to last minute items
like the application of Chamois Butt'r, and then it was time to line
up.   I picked a spot about 1/3 of the way back from the front, next to
Gene.  The national anthems (Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, and the U.S.)
were played, the countdown commenced, and then we were off!

As usual, the pack started out with a 23-24 mph pace for the short loop
around the block and back in front of the school.   Then it was on
through Middleville, a detour for construction, and the long hill out
the other side of Middleville.   The group split into a lead group and a
sensible group.   Joel, Gene, and I (and maybe some others -- I'm not
sure where Brian and Nancy were at that point) were with the lead
group.   Then, going into a hill, my chain dropped off.   I coasted off
to the side and got it back on again after some wiggling to get it out
from between the chainring and the bottom bracket, but by then it was
too late -- I'd been dropped from the lead group.

I continued on to Lakeview, hoping I could get back into the group at
the checkpoint.  I swapped water bottles with Dad, got in and out of the
checkpoint as quick as I could, but I was too late to catch the main
group.  I did manage to pick up a couple wheels that were falling off
the back, though.

I continued on through Banfield, picking up whatever wheels I could
until I ether got dropped, or the other rider couldn't hold onto my
wheel any longer.   On the way out of Banfield I was passed by two guys
going a little faster than me, and I hopped on.   They were deep in
conversation and didn't pay much attention to me, so I never did find
out who they were.

On the way through Assyria, the route made a right hand turn, and they
went straight.  I almost went with them, but I stopped, turned around,
and saw the marking.   I yelled to them, and another guy whistled as
loud as he could, but neither one seemed to hear, and they were too fast
and too far gone for me to chase them down.

While I was trying to get the attention of the two that had missed the
turn, another group caught up to me, and we rolled on towards the
Baseline Church keeping our speed arround 20-21 on the flats when we
didn't have a headwind, and dropping down to 16-17 when we turned into
the brutal headwind.   The wind took its toll, and when we got to the
church I stopped long enough to tell someone at the checkpoint about the
two that missed the turn (I hope they got back on route!), and eat a
turkey sandwich and share some watermellon with Dad and Dexx.   Just
about that time I saw Gene roll in.   I went to the loo, said "Hi" to
Gene, and then gathered m equipment and got back on the road.   About a
mile or two down the road I caught up to Gene.  Apparently while I was
gathering my things and getting ready to go, he was on his way.

The short jaunt from Baseline UMC to the Delton Library seemed to fly
past.   Quite a change from two years ago when the temperature was near
100F, and I was struggling to maintain 12mph!

At the library, I said "Hi" to Geri, grabbed another half of a sandwich,
and then got on the road again.  We were going North, now, and the wind
that we had been fighting off and on all day was suddenly our best
friend.  We got back to Middleville and I paused to drink a couple
bottles of Ensure before heading out on loop 2.

I managed to squeak in three circuits of loop 2, getting to checkpoint 5
with 10 minutes to spare my third time around.   Each time I got back to
Middleville I was greeted by Dexx cheering for me, and Dad getting what
I needed in the way of food and drink.  Getting back to Middleville
after the last day loop, I stopped to eat some solid food, shower, and
change into dry clothes for the night loop.   Scott and Carolyn warned
me that there was a storm coming in, and that it might cause a delay in
the race.

The wind quickly picked up from the 18-25 mph winds that we had been
dealing with to 45mph winds.   When I got back to my tent, I found that
the shade pavilion that someone had set up next to me had collapsed in
the wind, bent into shapes that it wasn't meant to bend in, and there
was a woman holding onto it to keep it from blowing away (and in danger
of being carried away with it, herself!) and yelling for someone to help.

Apparently the owner of the pavilion was out on a loop, so Brian and I
spent the better part of an hour trying to wrestle the thing under
control and get it collapsed.   Tarps had been attached to it both with
wire ties (Brian had to dig out his clippers to cut them loose) and tied
with sections of old innertube, which defied attempts by both Brian and
me to untie.   We finally got the tarp loose from the frame just as the
owner returned from his loop.  The three of us finished getting the
tarps loose from the frame, bent the frame back into shape, and got the
frame upright and collapsed.   We covered his gear and the frame with
the tarps, and staked it down to keep it from blowing away.

While we were wrestling with the pavilion, the announcement came that
they were not going to close the course, as it was deemed that the winds
alone were not enough to be dangerous (Joel, how did you fare out there
with that disk wheel?)    Laura pointed out that with each gust of wind,
my tent was getting blown flat, only to pop up again when the wind let
up a bit.   I moved my cooler inside the tent, and put everything with
any weight on the windward side of the tent.

While we were getting things under control there had been sprinkles of
rain.  A few minutes after we had things under wraps, it started to rain
in earnest, and then it started coming down in sheets.   I was pretty
sore at that point, so I climbed into my tent to wait it out and decide
whether it was worth continuing.   Between the weather, my extremely
sore hiney, and the fact that it was no longer possible to reach my goal
(300 miles), I pretty much resigned myself to calling it a year, and I
dropped off to sleep.

A little after midnight, John and Judy came by on their way back from a
wedding.  Apparently Laura had told them where to find Brian and Nancy,
and so they came buy to roust them out of their tent.  Nancy was feeling
sick, and got a pass, but Judy chided, cajoled, and threatened Brian
until he couldn't take it anymore and got back on his bike.   I tried to
be as quiet as I could and hoped to escape Judy's notice, but Nancy
squealed on me (um, Nancy?  I *WILL* get you back for that!)

Judy wasn't taking my chills (I'd managed to get sunburned in spite of
lathering up with sunscreen) or my sore hiney as an excuse, and I got
the same treatment as Brian until I, too, relented.   At least I got a
handfull of peanut butter cups from John to help me get going.

I rode four night loops, and collapsed back into my tent at around
3am.   I slept soundly for a while, and then I was awoken around 5am by
some conversation outside my tent.   I blearily gathered my equipment
and headed out again.   I managed to get in 5 more loops, finishing the
last loop with 10 minutes to spare.   I spent most of the last four
loops standing because I was too sore to sit!

After a shower and breakfast, it was time for the awards ceremony.
Joel was on the podium, of course (was it 2nd or 3rd?), Diane Obermeyer
took first in her age group, as she and Skip finally got to ride in the
N24HC after 25 years, and Nancy took third in her age group.

We packed our tents, stuffed our gear into our cars, swore that we
weren't going to ride again next year, and headed out.   On the way
home, Brian, Nancy, Laura, and I stopped at Schueler's, where Nancy
awarded her medal to Judy for rousting us out to get back on our bikes.
Judy said that when her co-worker told her that some of her bike friends
were there to see her, the first thing she asked was, "Are they angry?"


I want to give a big thanks to Allison Gase, Rick Pearce, Scott and
Carolyn Chapman, Geri Finch, Linda Doran, Lew Persenaire, and all the
other N24HC volunteers for once again making this event a big success!

And I'm still trying to figure out whether to thank Judy or kill her.    :)