There is so much to say about the 24hr race, and so many photos... but unfortunately, only a little time for me to put it all together. Below is Doug's race report (which pretty much covers it all) and some random photos. We all had a blast...next year we're going to have a couple of teams out there...

Crank Racings' first 24 hour race went rather well. We took 5th place in our class with 22 laps. Our team consisted of Mike Lawless, Doug Salb, Dave Alden, Tim Corning, and Tom Martin. Jason Brynes was our support, mechanic, etc...thanks Jason. The race took place in Dalton Massachusetts at Holiday Farms.

It was weird to see that 3rd, 4th, and 5th place were only separated by a few minutes in a long race like this…

The 24 Hours of Adrenalin begins.

The race starts with Mike running 3/4 of a mile then hopping on his bike to do a bike lap. I think his time was 1 hour 11 minutes- awesome! He then handed the baton to me so I could do my lap. The race went rather smooth except for a few minor mishaps. To my surprise (and everyone else's) I finished my first lap at 1 hour and 3 minutes. The reason I said it was a surprise to everyone else is because when I came in to hand off the baton to Dave he wasn't there. I looked everywhere. After a few minutes of waiting and searching I decided to run down to the campsite where Dave was getting ready. I had finished my lap faster then he had anticipated. We only lost a few minutes but as you can see, a few minutes makes a difference even in a 24 hour race. It was all good, and we kept our 5th place standing.

Dave turned in some very fast lap times 55,56 minutes, Mike also did laps under an hour, Tim Corning did consistent 1:03 lap times and Tom Martin did impressive 1:16 or so even while getting a flat.

The course itself was very technical, muddy, rocky, off camber hills with roots, etc...Some of the toughest riding I had ever done. We all did a lot of walking. There were bridges, river crossings, steep singletrack uphill climbs, but also very rewarding downhills. The course was very well marked and the race was well organized with vendors like Mavic, Platypus, Clif Bar, etc...

The checkpoints were staffed, had plenty of water, Gatorade, Clif Bars, Clif Shots. My favorite part of the course were the downhills in the meadows. A big open field with downhill singletrack that just got faster and faster Woohoo!!!

The only problems we ran into were Tom's 2 flats and on my second lap my bike was having trouble shifting into the granny gear and I broke a pedal, but it happened in the last 10 minutes of my lap so I was able to finish my lap no problem. So as I was repairing my bike it was getting close for me to go out for another lap. Dave Alden had to take my place (Thanks Dave) as I switched my seat, pedals, lights, etc...to another bike. I used Tim's brother's GIANT NRS which ran flawlessly except for a loose seat on one lap which cost me a few minutes.

When I got up to do my night lap around 3AM I walked out of the tent and all I saw was lights through the trees. It was a really cool sight, like a bunch of fireflies. The racers with all their lights mounted on their handlebars and helmets made a lightshow. NICE!

At night we did double laps so everyone could get enough sleep. It didn't really matter because of all the noise, annoying announcer, dogs, etc...we didn't get much sleep. My first night lap went smooth but on my second lap I took a fall and banged up my knee, leg, etc...I finished the lap fine but it took its toll and I could not do another lap later on. Tim Corning took my place(Thanks Tim).

One thing that amazed me was the Solo riders. We did 22 laps with a 5 person team. The winner of the Men's Solo race did 21 laps and the winner of the women's Solo race did 14 laps. It was her first time solo racing and her first time night riding.

When it was all over we were all very tired, hungry and cranky. Hmmm is that where the name Crank Racing came from? No, but I am looking forward to the next 24 hour race.

P.S. There were little white mice in the trails, yes there were!