Joe's Report

Joe's Report:
Cowbell 12hr. Challenge

Well it was the first Solo endurance race I had attempted. However, I had great expectations even though I suffered a knee injury 2-3 weeks prior to the race. 1 cortozone shot and a bottle of anti-inflamitories later and I was good to go. The first 4 laps went great. The course was fast, fun, and just my style. There were great jumps, down hills, and plenty of tight single track. I felt like I was getting faster with every passing lap until lap 5. Between the humidity, heat, and lack of proper training I was at a fork in the road. I actually considered quitting. So I went back to the pit, ate, complained and layed down for about 15 minutes. At this point I knew I had 45 minutes on Jonathan, so I wasn't too worried yet. After a small rest I got up and did another lap. This one was just as painful, so I repeated the same thing. I still had 20-30 minutes on Jonathan and I set off again. By this time it was around 5pm and the temp was going down. I think my legs finally got their second wind and I was off. The next two laps felt great. I was enjoying the race again, however due to the long rests I had dropped from 6th to 10th. I figured as long as I get 11 laps I should do reasonably well. So I set out for #10. This was a painful lap full of cramps and climbing. At this point it seemed like the whole trail was up hill. I took one more long rest at the pit knowing I had about 2 hours to finish this last lap. Then set off. At this point I was taking it easy, walking switch backs and crusing through flat single track. THEN I got passed by another solo rider. I asked him what lap he was on and he said 11. He then said he thought he was in 11th place. My original thought was let him go. Who cares about 10th place anyways. But as his light got further away I could not handle it anymore. I turned it on one last time. I caught him and was feeling pretty good. Then he said something that floored me. "If you want to pass, go, I am not racing you for 10th place". My response was, "yes you are". After a few minutes of trailing him I backed off and let him go. After the adrineline wore off I was back to cramps. As I approached the finish line there were 2 minutes until 8:59. I could do another lap or wait until time. I was done. I waited along with about 12 riders for the clock to turn and we all crossed together. Then we returned to the pit for a celebratory beer and time to tell stories. In the end I finished 10th of 33 riders with 11 laps. It was a great race and I will definately do it again next year.

Thank for reading.Joe P.