Just returned home from <a href=”http://www.ex2adventures.com/12-hours-of-cranky.php” target=”_blank”>this</a> absolutely grueling race. I was on a team of three in the beginner group (fitting since I mountain bike maybe once or twice per year). Not sure if I’ve shared the story yet, but I found a “random” team with a free spot on the <a href=”http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11143″ target=”_blank”>local mountain bike club forum</a>. After speaking with the team organizer for a week or so, he shared his name… One that I knew… A guy that I knew pretty well from track days and sushi/dim sum lunches that we used to hold back in the day. As such, our team name was “<a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Strangers_%28sitcom%29″ target=”_blank”>Perfect Strangers</a>.” Unfortunately, that got mangled in the paperwork and we ended up as “Total Strangers.” Lame!<br/><br/><div style=”text-align: center;”><img border=”1″ src=”http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?displaypic=biking%2F2008_06_28_12hrs_of_cranky_monkey%2FP1000702s.jpg&amp;non_lr=”/><br/></div><br/>Anyway, the race. As I said, I mountain bike once or twice a year, but I figured the amount of cardio work I do would have left me in good shape.  I was partially right. Lacking the technical skills, there was a definite limit to how fast I could safely go, but as my times show, those skills must have grown each lap and my cardio would allowed me to keep on trucking. My first lap (10.7 miles of rolling hills/nonstop pedaling) ended at 1:27:15 including around a two minute “<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OGk-1YkJUE” target=”_blank”>LeMans style start</a>” (aka running to bikes.. except there were about 200 folks for mine) so roughly a 1:25:15. My second lap was about 1:26:30, and my final lap I cranked out a 1:23. Overall, I’m very pleased. My bike held up and more importantly, I did. Note: The amazing riders were cranking out 45-50 minute laps. The guys (not ringers… read on) at the top of beginner were about 1:15.<br/><br/>My teammates each did two laps as catching 5th place and a podium spot was not going to happen after my 3rd lap… It simply didn’t make sense for them to kill themselves. The guy I knew ran a 1:28 and a 1:40, while his coworker, easily the best rider amongst us, pulled a 1:18 and a 1:20. <br/><br/>Unfortunately, the beginner group had two ringer teams, which can be expected when self-classing occurs. They were all pulling laps right around an hour, which would have had them running middle-of-the-pack in the intermediate “sport” group. That would have dropped us to 4th, but whatever, I was able to get out of there earlier thanks to them to stop by <a href=”http://www.krispykreme.com/” target=”_blank”>Krispy Kreme</a> and grab some <a href=”http://www.crystalthai.com/” target=”_blank”>Thai</a> for dinner. The folks I feel worst for were the guys camped out next to us, who were incredibly nice/helpful and truly beginners, were stuck with 3rd. Actually, scratch that… Only the 1st place team was a ringer one… The other ringer team was in 5th because they had had a mechanical issue on one of theirs. So the 2nd place team I feel the worst for, but it’s worth mentioning how awesome the 3rd place guys were.<br/><br/>Hrm… Other thoughts:<br/><ul><li>It was hotter than hell; I’ve never sweat so much. I downed about 18 bottles of water. <br/></li><li>Arguably tougher than the half marathon last year. Easier to recover from, but some of the efforts put in were much higher than anything involved in a road race.<br/></li><li><a href=”http://www.ex2adventures.com/” target=”_blank”>EX2 Adventures</a> runs really high quality events. <br/></li><li>I didn’t notice much of it, but I can’t wait for the poison ivy.</li><li>I crashed four times. Twice on my first lap, and twice on my second. Couple bruises, light scratches, and a finger that got squeezed between a tree and my handlebar at about 15mph. Ouch!</li><li>I’m going to be ridiculously sore tomorrow. Chris, stop by with those muscle relaxers!</li><li>Since Mondays are my cross training days in the marathon plan, I’m going to make a serious effort to get to <a href=”http://www.dirtworld.com/trails/trail.asp?id=1051&amp;trail_name=Wakefield/Accotink%20Mountain%20Bike%20Trail” target=”_blank”>Wakefield</a>; this stuff is fun.</li><li>I had by far the cheapest bike out there. It was $1300 (no, I didn’t pay near that since I worked at the shop) seven years ago and has recently had another $400 ($600 had I paid retail and labor) or so poured in.</li></ul>Next upgrade for the bike is probably a disc front brake. I’d go front and rear, but my frame doesn’t accept a rear AND my rear does it’s job just fine while weighing in at half as much as a disc. Maybe time for a new frame? Muahaha $$$. I could likely find something pretty sweet for fairly cheap based on how current the folks out at the races need to keep their stuff <img src=”http://www.iammike.org/cutenews/data/emoticons/tongue.gif”/> Like any other hobby, you <span style=”font-style: italic;”>must</span> have the latest and greatest.<br/><br/>I’m definitely doing this again next year. I’ll also have pics up when they get sent to me.<br/><br/>Update: Results have been <a href=”http://www.ex2adventures.com/12-hours-of-cranky-results-class-2008.php” target=”_blank”>posted</a> (I am the 1st, 4th, and last laps for my team). We dropped a spot by skipping out on that last lap, but who cares about 7th versus 6th? The solo folks truly amaze me… I couldn’t imagine doing another lap.<br/><br/>Update #2: Pictures <a href=”../gallery/?dir=biking%2F2008_06_28_12hrs_of_cranky_monkey%2F” target=”_self”>are up</a>.<br/><br/>Update #3: Poison ivy has arrived. One small patch (maybe 5 dots or so) 2 inches <span style=”font-weight: bold;”>below my sock line</span>. WTF?<br/>