Nineteen
(19) HRRT members raced at the 2015 edition of the Hardcore 24
(HC24). The nineteen riders organized themselves into six (6) teams,
covering five (5) race categories. Every single HRRT member ended up
on a podium with a trophy – not just a participation trophy, a
trophy that was earned. Just as Henry Chinaski explained in Barfly
"… anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be
a drunk – It takes endurance.” the same is true for mountain
biking. Anybody can be a non-24 hour racer. It takes a special talent
to be a 24 hour racer.
More
than anything I am deeply appreciative to the Hardcore 24 race
promoters, lead by Mark (Swarty) Swarthout, for continuing to
open-heartedly support a race format that uniquely caters to a
diverse community of riders: first-timers to the hardened endurance
racer; hammer-heads to the stop-and-smell-the-roses pleasure rider;
three generations of riders all riding the same course over the same
twenty-four hour period, all kicked off with a Friday evening bike
parade to the overlook to watch the sunset. It is a perfect pairing
with HRRT's philosophy of building a cycling community. Lucky for
me, it's also my favorite race format. The most common first response
to a displayed interest in 24 hour mountain bike racing is “you
must be crazy.” Henry Chinaski says "Some people never go
crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."
As
for my five person mixed team, it was a wild ride well before the
clouds burst open and turned the newly sculpted trails into a giant
seven mile long slip and slide. Ten days before the race, during the
HRRT HC24 kickoff party, we had secured our final two team members.
The day before the race, we were again short two team members. On
race day morning I was able to shanghai a runner and a father of a
HRRT junior rider to once again fill out the team – just two hours
to the starting bell.
The
runner, we'll call her Erin since that's her name, was at the HC24
supporting a friend who was riding with another of the HRRT teams. Erin was planning on having a nice relaxing weekend with only an
eight mile training road run planned for Sunday. Erin, however,
could not resist the lure of the HC24 goody bag: a $10-of-food coupon
from the Marty’s Meat truck, a HC24 sponsor swag raffle ticket
worth who knows what, a very collectible HC24 tie dyed t-shirt, a jar
of peanut butter, and a chance at a coveted HC24 podium spot and a
trophy. The peanut butter was the clincher.
Tom,
on the other hand, just needed to have a foot size close to anyone
with an extra pair of shoes – 9-1/2. Bingo! Tom (owner of Chatham
Brewery and a proud sponsor of HRRT) and Sara had stopped by the HC24
to drop off their son and then planned to spend a couple days touring
the Finger Lake's country-side. Tom and Sara agreed to Tom riding the
first lap for our team – just a short four hour delay to their
weekend plans.
Lastly,
it was just the matter of selling the concept of allowing Erin to
run a lap for our team. Swarty agreed. We had our final roster: three
old men, each nursing a shoulder injury, a sponsor with no riding
equipment of his own, and a runner willing to substitute a trail run
for her planned road run.
Three
up, three down. Tom did the first lap, as was agreed, and was off to
enjoy what was left of his weekend touring the Finger Lakes. Erin
then took the baton and ran a lap. After the lap, Erin couldn't put
on her running shoes for the rest of the day. Chuck went third,
bounced off a tree, and by the end of his lap could no longer grip a
handle bar with his left hand. Or shift. Or brake. The other Don and
I took the reins and figured we had a long rest-of-the-day ahead of
us.
You
know when you're speeding along on an express subway train late at
night and all there is to break the monotony of the darkened tunnel
and the random passing of a forgotten construction bulb, is the
periodic subway platform with its florescent lights and signage, and
your brain, like a camera, trying to capture all the information that
it can before the shutter closes. That's how I remember the balance
of the 24 hours. I remember Don and I agreed to double up on laps so
that we could get some rest time between turns. I remember Tom
reappeared out of nowhere around 7PM to contribute two more laps. I
remember feeling a drop of rain and recalling that the forecast had
predicted rain by 1AM. I remember the long-haired hippie dude at 2AM
saying “sleep is for the weak”. I remember crawling into my car
at 3AM to get some desperately needed sleep because I was getting
weak and Jen was going to wake me at 4AM to do a lap together. I
remember riding a couple of laps with Jennifer one at sunrise – a
total treat. I remember turning in my ankle bracelet timing chip. I
remember being handed a trophy and a bottle of wine and thinking life
is really good.
Henry
Chinaski says, “This is a world where everybody's gotta do
something. Y'know, somebody laid down this rule that everybody's
gotta do something, they gotta be something. You know, a dentist, a
glider pilot, a narc, a janitor, a preacher, all that.” This
weekend, my something was a 24-hour racer.
