12 Hours of Humboldt Race Report

Race Report by Paul Oellerich

Hi All, I had such a great time doing this race that I'm gonna throw out my first Race Report here. Ok, I'm also ecstatic that I actually survived soloing for 12 hours!

The weekend started out as all weekends really should... very warm summer Friday evening, bikes on the roof rack, good friend at the wheel (David A.), tunes cranked up, and heading out to a weekend full of riding!! It couldn't get much better, and I actually forgot that I've never done anything close to this and have been fairly sure that I'd end the race as just another heap of Vulture grub in the forest. Despite the usual Friday traffic stuff, the drive North went smooth until we got about 120 miles south of Eureka, when things literally got bumpy. A deer jumped out in front of a truck coming towards us and the poor thing was thrown inches in front of us, turning it into a very unpleasant speed bump at 60 Mph. After making sure it was dead, and determining there was no significant damage to the car, we continued on, noticeably less exuberant for a time, though feeling very lucky that it didn't hit the windshield or take the bikes off the top. We arrived at camp in Eureka in plenty of time for a good 5+ hours of sleep.

Up & On to the race and getting anxious! First surprise is the small # of people there; Did we arrive an hour before, or 3 hours? We piled our stuff on our little spot of grass that we'll call our pit for the next 13 hours or so. I go to register, where it becomes obvious that it's either going to start late, or many people will not be racing; One person doing registration & they ran out of punch-cards. They adapted quickly though and after a very entertaining riders meeting, we all headed down to the starting line for an 8:30 start (1/2 hour late). About 50 starters... not sure of the breakdown of solo & teams.

So, suddenly we're all off for the First Lap, with me hanging in the back still uncertain of what my pace should be. My first lap was about as schizophrenic as it could be. I found out that this was a fantastic course, with a lot of fun sections mixed in with the expected double-track. There was some slow tight single-track sections through the undergrowth... some blazing fast narrow down-hill sections with whoops, off-cambers, and other obstacles... a drop-down over roots & such section of single track... a fairly tough short technical climb... and some blurry-eyed fast fire road descents! Oh, and certainly enough double-track on & on climbs to make any self-respecting XC rider smile from ear to ear! In fact, it became obvious that even though the 1000'+ of climbing advertised might be technically correct, it was certainly bordering on deceptive advertising! :) It was agreed that there was substantially more, and I heard afterwards that one rider's altimeter put it at 1600' per lap :o So here's the dark-side of my first lap... One wrong turn (fortunately I had the right jersey for it & happen to be used to making u-turns), dropped the chain off the inside of the small ring in the middle of a climb, slid-out on an ugly gravel-filled horseshoe turn, AND got stung by a bee inside my left ear!! So, lap one ends with me thinking the trails great, but the day will be looooong...

Fortunately I settle in on lap two, feeling good and climbing strong. If fact, I find that the sound of the blood pounding through my throbbing ear is the perfect beat for climbing. Who needs a stink'n walkman? Lap 3 is good, and by lap 4 I'm feeling a huge rush, am sure I'll never need to stop, and am just having a blast riding.

So now I take my first pit to refill my water, eat, fill the hammer gel, lube the chain etc. 10 minutes or so, and I'm back on the trail... and a total mess! Lap 5 & 6 were inexplicably sucky. Just couldn't get into a groove, didn't feel strong on the climbs, and the unexpected pain in my knee started. It was this time when I started making greater use of my small ring. I also spend much of these two laps cursing the friend that I had discussed doing a two person team with, and wasn't able to ;) What can I say... I was day dreaming of handing off a baton & laying on the grass! The only saving grace was the fun sections mixed in with the climbs. Then just as suddenly, heading into lap 7 I'm on top & raging again!

Another short pit stop, and I'm on to lap 8. By now my knee is a nagging pain, and I'm tired enough to become emotionally attached to my small ring on a number of the climbs. But as the end starts to come into sight, I realize I'm going to miss riding when I stop (huh?). I time lap 9 at 1:10, and end it with only 2 hours left. Since they'll only count full laps that end before 8:30, there's no way I'm gonna get 2 more in. I take a little extra time in getting out for that last lap, knowing I've got plenty of time to do it. My only BIG mistake of the day!!

I finish the day with 10 laps, 82 miles under the tires, and 15,000+ feet of vertical. And no Vultures in sight! Yeah!! Plenty of good socializing... warmer clothes... free burgers & beer... a looong raffle (of course), and around 10:15 it's awards time. And suddenly I've got a redwood plank in the shape of a big foot with "2nd Place Solo-Sport" on it! Ok, there were only 5 of us, but it wasn't my fault there weren't more people to beat, huh? :) So now, four of us are ready to escape for some real food & beer at the Lost Coast Brewery, and I could have walked away... But, no, I HAD TO wait for an opportunity to get close to the results chart the announcer was working from and find out... And I found out that I missed 1st place by 1min/15sec! Aaaarrgh! I could've, should've, would've... I had no idea how close things were. Oh well, I'll get over it. Someday. Maybe.

I'm stoked on this race; It was more than worth the drive up... 12 hours of racing is a blast & a challenge. The course was way fun enough to stave off boredom for 12 hours and the event was as down-home as everything in Humboldt should be! Definitely look forward to doing this again next year! Good race by TeamBigFoot.

Ride On, Paul

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