So I’m sitting here deciding whether to do the Multisport National Champs in Helags in 7 days. It looks awesome (you’ve seen the film right?). The 24 hour race is in my backyard and features both midnight sun and fantastic mountain biking.
So why aren’t I doing the race?
Well, first a quick story …
When I think of 24-hour racing I think of my first 24 hour mountain bike race in New Hampshire (Google tells me the race still lives …). It was 2001 and I was 24. There were two sponsored cyclists there that got all the attention and nobody knew who I was. So I went “full gas” from the start.
The race starts at 12 noon on Saturday and goes until 12 on Sunday. It’s a 10 km loop, where about half is really technical and the other half is fast ski tracks. The temps were over 30 C (almost 90 F). The objective was simple: do as many laps as you can in 24 hrs (I think I finished with like 30 or so ?).
I jumped out to an early lead but nobody was worried – I was a “noname” cyclist. But when the sun rose on Sunday and I was still leading. I was ridin’ high on adrenaline and got a kick each hour when I came through the support area and re-filled my bottles. My trusty Ironhorse was hangin’ in there.
With a few hours to go there was some confusion among race officials about how many laps I had completed. Apparently, they had given my support crew the wrong information and now my lead evaporated when they “re-counted the laps.” I was one lap down in second place with another guy right behind me (Is this how Al Gore felt when they re-counted the votes in 2000?).
The temps rose on Sunday morning and I pushed like hell. So did the other two guys. In the end I got 3rd with the same number of laps as the 2nd place guy … but I came in a few minutes later.
I was so dehydrated afterwards that I needed to visit the air-conditioned ambulance to get an IV. I sat there with a guy on my right and a guy on my left — also with IV bags. After my 3rd IV I started to ‘wake up’ and recognized that the guys beside me were the ones I was sharing the podium with. We had a good laugh.
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(dirty and exhausted at the finish line together with Carolina Orsini)
So what does this have to do with SM in Helags? Yes, 24 hr races are tough on the body (apparently worse if you get on the podium), but sometimes it’s worth the pain. But this time it isn’t. I selected four multisport races in September in China (see calendar) to be what I call ”A” races. Åre Extreme and Coast to Coast are A races where performance is everything. B races are to test my form, while C races are just for fun. So that means no more A races in July and August. Instead, a bunch of C races and lots of training.
So I wish everybody luck at SM !
In other news, my dad is visiting from San Diego and I’m showing him around Jämtland. Here we are on the ferry to Norderön…
Train hard
Scott
PS Thanks to Brian Post photography for the cool pics from the 24 hour race in 2001
PPS I added some new photos to my website, have a look …
