First race of the Heartland Ultra Triple Crown 2013 series, Calvin’s 12-Hour Challenge, is over (with a sigh of relief!). Relief in the sense numero uno is done, but it just means it will be an uphill battle from here on out. Bikers of all types & ages where there since the race offered several route options and was a great example of what a versatile sport cycling can be.
I believe the youngest rider was 8 and the oldest was 91. Riding opportunities included recreational, time trials, half century, century, 6-hour and 12-hour challenges. There were classes for all the different types of bikes – road, tandem, single-speed/fixed gear, trike, trike recumbent, scooter, hand cycle, ellipti-cycle, and even high wheelers. I pasted links to some of the pictures on their website below if you want to have a gander. Throughout the day the specialty bikes got more cheering than some of the challenge winners! It amazed me how the scooter riders were even able to finish a 50-mile time trial – five-zero miles of scooting! Very cool. There was also a paraplegic on a hand cycle that was involved in the 12-hour challenge. Afterwards he said everyone who saw him cheered and gave words of encouragement that kept him going all day long.
The 12-hour endurance challenge was my drug of choice, which ended up being a compilation of a delightfully scenic 50-mile course of empty fields and 20 to 30-mph winds, and 7-mile course which would open later in the day as the race came to a close. The first half of the race was mostly into the headwinds with a crosswind that only offered protection when the cyclists were lined up side-by-side stretching across the roads. Staying in a group is essential in these types of conditions, but also leaves the racers limited to the speed of others. I pushed hard the first half of the initial loop to get in good position with a group of solid riders, which paid dividends for the first half of the race. Taking short, quick breaks to staying in the saddle as much as possible helped keep the group together and dropped the riders who weren’t pulling their weight. After several miles together and rotating leaders, we realized 7 of the 8 riders in our pack were from West Michigan! The odds of getting teamed up with other Michiganders 320 miles from home was astounding and helped bind us for the first half of the race. Pulling into the checkpoint and pit area, we were going to try to be back onto the bikes and moving in 3 minutes. Quickly hitting the johns, strategically reapplying lube & doubling up my bike shorts as a preemptive against saddle-soreness, I hustled back to my pit area grabbing my refilled bottles waiting for the pack. Five minutes later my heart sank as I realized I must have missed go time. Debating whether or not to continue on without a pack, I finally saw a lady on a tri bike taking off and jumped on her tail but quickly realized she was a 6-hour challenge rider and was soon on my own again.
The internal war that ensued is different than what happens in most races. Generally there is a start and finish line, and once you cross that line the race is over. With endurance races, you start and finish continuously throughout the day, over, and over, and over, until you either physically break from exhaustion or mentally break when you feel you just can’t go on. Every time a loop is completed you make the decision whether or not to continue. When you see other riders lounging in chairs, laying out on the grass in the sun or shade, eating lunch, and packing up their gear, you can’t help but envy them and want to quit too if you feel you’ve hit your mark for the day. I pressed on without a break from the winds on my own for the first portion of the third loop and lost count of how many times I thought about stopping at a volunteer’s vehicle and ask if I could have a lift back, or tell me if I had made a miscalculated the time and should’ve gotten on the 7, or ride around to see if there was any other life forms on the route that would make it worth my while to pick it up, or lay off so they could catch up. Without stopping, I pressed on.
When I first saw a figure in the distance I thought I had begun to hallucinate. A single person on what looked like a recumbent bike seemed to be about a half mile in front of me and cursed myself for my I-should-have-glasses-but-won’t-ever-need-them attitude. Knowing recumbent bikes have a harder time riding in cross winds and uphill, I tried to catch up exerting myself to no avail after a couple miles. I was about to pull over at a stop sign to at least pull my phone out of my saddlebag to turn on some music on the speakers and give my mind something to focus on other than the burning in my legs and to drown out the thoughts in my head when out off the corner of my eye I saw 2 riders coming up behind me. Praise the Lord! Literally – one of them turned out to be a preacher from Hastings!! The other I had ridden with earlier in the day and had missed the group departure as well. 120 miles into the race, we formed what turned out to be a perfect union. Randall, the preacher, was a powerful rider who had ridden the National 24-Hour Challenge 13 times tandem with his dad before he’d passed away, and was there in his memory. Kent was a former racer and a very technical rider who helped us establish a rotation to maximize drafting benefit and was money in any pull position after resting. They created a nice pocket for me to draft in and recover for a couple miles. When you’re working with such a small team, it’s incredibly important for everyone to pull their own weight. The balance in our team was perfection – Randall could power through most of the head winds, Kent & I worked through the cross winds, and I set the pace for speed during tailwinds. The team mentality that developed was greater than the exhaustion setting in, and kept our spirits high through the finish time.
After completing the third 50-mile loop and several 7-mile loops, Kent realized we were on pace to hit the 200-mile mark. Rallying and getting another wind from the excitement as the last 2 hours of the race winding down, we paced ourselves taking little to zero time off the bikes by sharing water bottles, nutrition and electrolyte tabs. With 14 minutes to spare, we passed under the checkpoint and hit the 200 milestone. Pressing on back into the relentless headwind, we decided to keep going until the clock was timed out, hoping to get 2 or 3 more miles under our belt. Randall surged into the headwind for his interval past the 1-mile marker. Then Kent took over and got us to the second. Rotating in, I told the guys I was going to lay it out when I got into the first turn when the wind came in from the left for a half mile stretch before shifting into the blessed tailwind, and needed them to holler that they were on after the turn so I didn’t drop them. We went flying down the straightaway towards the volunteer at the 3-mile marker who was waiving & screaming that we had 20 seconds left… 10 seconds left… passing with seconds to spare. The icing on the cake: because we passed the 3 mile mark before the clock struck 7:30, we got credit for the 4th and last mile of a very long, but victorious day.
Pedaling easy back to the staging area, we celebrated and recapped the ups and downs of the race – when Randall suckled Kent & I back from dying a slow, lonely death (one of many bible jokes that day), how Kent had battled cramping all day, but could fly after popping the anti-cramping pills, and my marriage proposals from these 2 married men. Upon returning and nourishing our bodies with some amazing food that was in neither liquid nor goo form and reviewing the day’s results, our posse tied for 31st of 158 riders, and all of us had podium finishes. I was very happy with my race results – 1st in my age group and 3rd woman overall, especially since the long winter kept me inside in spin classes and an overuse injury had limited my training.
I hope you enjoy the pictures & remember to keep loving what you’re doing however you’re doing it!!
-Colleen Myers
Colleen is a veteran triathlete and ultra endurance racer having competed in many 6 and 12 hour races. She'll continue in these events for 2013 but is also adding road races and criteriums to the races she plans to do.
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