Sequatchie 24 Hour Road Race

 

The idea of riding my road bike for 24 hours sounded great ... 6 months ago!  This event was the brain child of Lee Davis and Dawson Wheeler, who eventually hope to make this a RAAM qualifier.  It took place in the Sequatchie Valley, just north of Chattanooga. The daytime lap was a 75 mile out/back with a lollipop at the north end.  The night time lap was a 45 mile out/back, along the same road.

I am not afraid to admit that I was intimidated by this one.  It has been at least 15 years that I have done a 24 hour lap race and this would be the first time doing it on the road.  Having had a big week up in Michigan 2 weeks prior (250 mountain bike miles + 50 trail running miles), I wasn't sure if I had fully recovered.  I knew it would be as much a mental challenge as physical, riding the same stretch of asphalt over and over again.  But that is just one reason why I signed up:  to get in the ring and shake the monkey off my back.  Oh, and did I mention that the high was going to be 93 with an overnight low of 72?

For the 24 hour, there were 2 categories: drafting and non-drafting.  I entered the drafting as I had invited John Switow to join me in this BDR.  The bike I was riding was a 2019 Trek Emonda.  I do believe I was 1 of 2 people with rim brakes and the only one wearing mountain bike shoes.  I was running 28mm Conti GP 5000's with pressures at 65/70.

Wicked be her name and wickedly light at 15 pounds

In the past, for long races, I tended to eat a lot of solid food, and usually ended up with a bubble gut after 12 hours.  For this race, I was trying something new: high carb and gels.  I was aiming for 80 grams of carbs per hour.  I added 500 grams of sodium to each bottle. I also made GF pancakes and GF ramen, which would be my treat after finishing each lap.  With this plan, there was minimal protein and fat, which I hoped would keep my GI tract happy. I also pre made my bottles and froze them, in an attempt to keep my core cool.

The race started at 7 am.  The 75 mile and 150 mile racers zoomed on up the road, while John and I enjoyed a slow start to our day.  There were 8 in the drafting and 15 in the non-drafting.  The non-drafting started at 7:15 am.  John and I soon joined the company of Barry Allen.  Together we shared the wind on this first lap.  The roads were peacefully quiet and I only counted 9 cars on that first lap. The asphalt for the most part was pretty darn smooth:  just a short section near the underpass at Hwy 111, another one after crossing Hwy 30, a solid 2 mile stretch along old highway 28 that was recently chip-sealed, and the final rough section along Weasley Chapel Road.  So a total of about 4.5 miles of tooth-rattling pave'.

We rolled into the aid station at mile 38 where I quickly refilled my bottles and used the restroom in the church.  There was a cornucopia of snacks and ice cold Cokes.  I was so darn happy that the drink mix they had was Skratch, which sits so well with me.  I just cannot take Hammer or Gatorade, which seems to be the staple of most races.

I was ready to go, but John decided to grab a PB&J.  Those don't go down without a little chewing.  If you know John, he is a stickler for the "32 chew rule." 😴  Barry was kind enough to wait on us. As we left the aid station, I noticed it was getting toasty and the light and variable winds were heating up.

Finishing up lap 1 (4 hours 43 minutes), I was feeling great.  Yeah, it was HOT!  But that is exactly what I like and while many may wilt, I thrive.  John was feeling the effects of the heat and wasn't wanting to head back out as quickly as I wanted to.  I patiently waited and after 45 minutes, we got rolling again.  We couldn't find Barry, so it was just the two of us.  This second 75 mile lap was during the hottest part of the day.  John started to cramp about 1/4 of the way in.  Once we arrived at the aid station, I went into the church and soaked my jersey, as well as my head, under the bathroom sink. I refilled my bottles and slurped down a SIS gel with 150 grams of caffeine.  

John wasn't feeling well and told me to go.  I told him as I pedaled away that I would see him back at the start.  I was now on my own.  Even though the temps had soared into the 90's, I could feel just a slight coolness to the breeze, so long as I maintained a certain speed.  And the caffeine was the ticket for being able to push those pedals hard enough to hit that speed.  

Making it back to the start after lap 2 (5 hours 8 minutes), I did see John, but not in the way I wanted to.  He arrived in the broom wagon, having pulled out at mile 130.  His cramps had gotten to the point where he was walking most hills.  

I took some time at this point to change my kit and wipe myself down with one of the ice cold wash cloths provided by the event.  It was now 5:30 pm and beginning to ever so slightly cool off. I took another 150 mg caffeine hit and headed back out for lap 3. Now it was time to ride the 45 mile course, missing the worst of the rougher sections of road. As I rode by a church with an LED sign showing time and temp, I laughed out loud.  Who woulda thought that 82 degrees felt cool?!?

Being that this was an out/back course, I would see racers coming as I was going.  We always shouted out encouragement to one another.  At this point vehicular traffic was even less, with maybe 5 cars per lap.  What was really cool is that there were several volunteer cars out on course, all day and night, constantly checking on us and making sure we were ok and didn't need anything.

📷: Luke Swab

The third lap (3 hours) went by quickly as the sun began to set.  My legs felt great and my spirits were high.  I turned my lights on for the last 5 miles or so. I was looking forward to the night time. Back at my vehicle, I enjoyed another pancake.  At this point the only thing that was hurting was my nethers.  Chamois Butt'r to the rescue!  

It was now dark as I rolled out for my fourth lap.  Fueled by carbs and caffeine, I was still in a great headspace.  All of my focus was just on that small area of road lit up by my helmet light.  All sense of speed and elevation grade was muted.  Just me and my legs turning over the pedals ... serenity.  Well, until I passed within inches of a skunk walking the white line.  He attempted to spray me, but I was moving too fast and just missed getting "skunked."

I finished my fourth lap in 3 hours 5 minutes.  I took a little longer break this time to enjoy my ramen.  And guess what?  My stomach was still happy ... no gut bombs.  As I headed out for my 5th lap, I could now feel the fatigue in my legs and the tenderness in my nethers.  

This lap I was mathing.  I wanted 300 miles.  I knew I would have to go back out.  Just how far out was what I was calculating.  The witching hour came.  Those little hills all day long were adding up.  My knees felt like the Tin Man's.  I was standing a lot more because my nethers were on fire.  Sitting on your saddle for 20+ hours will do that.  Much different than being on a mountain bike where you typically spend more time out of the saddle.  What the hell are these few cars doing out at this hour? Nothing good happens after midnight, unless you are riding your bike!

Could I just do a short out/back to get my remaining 10 miles?  Or do the rules require you to ride those last miles the way the course goes.  Because I don't really want to ride 310 miles. I could but my lady parts might disintegrate. After 3 hours 25 minutes, I rolled back to the start.  I saw Shannon and asked him about the rules of travel.  Thank God!  I only have to do a short out/back to get to 300.  

With the sun rising, I watched my odometer slowly tick out those final miles.  46 minutes seemed like an eternity.  At 5:30 am, I completed my goal of 300 miles, the furthest I have ever ridden, in one pull. And this course was deceptively hilly.  I would call it lumpy. I managed to get 21,600 feet of climbing.

The only woman sick enough to do this

I want to give a huge shout out to Shannon and Celeste.  Their attention to detail for this scale of event was phenomenal:  ice cold Cokes, ice cold towels, vehicular support, plenty of food and water, a safe as possible road course, volunteers that were a plenty and always cheerful, and nice schwag!

My nutrition/hydration plan worked!  I felt great for longer than I expected with no GI distress.