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24 Hours of Moab Race Report
10.18.2010
Pivot Cycles team rider Timari Pruis reports on her 4th place finish at the the 24 Hours of Moab US National Championships
After taking the last few days to "attempt" to recover from Moab, I am finally getting around to writing my update for the 24 Hours of Moab, which this year acted once again as the US National Solo Championship (might I add, having the race here in particular was bittersweet. I LOVE it in Moab, but the course is nothing short of BRUTAL). I have to say I honestly came in to this race 100% prepared - both mentally AND physically, and I'm sure many other solo racers can attest this is hard to do. Just three weeks prior to Moab, I had raced the 24 Hours of Adrenalin race in Idyllwild solo as well, and killed it with a win at that race. Having been my first solo race all year, it gave me a good idea of where I was at physically, and needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. All the hard work was definitely paying off! So I was physically dialed, and winning it gave me the mental edge I needed going into Moab.
My mom and I arrived on Friday afternoon, and met up with Josh (Pivot Demo Guy extraordinaire) so we could set up "home base" for the weekend. Josh rolled in the Pivot demo trailer, and we set up camp around it yup, I got to feel "important" for the weekend considering we had the complete set up. This would be the pit area for myself, as well as fellow Pivot sponsored rider Erick Auger for Saturday through Sunday. I must say it was pretty sweet, plus I had any Pivot of my choice to ride if I so desired, or if necessary. Saturday morning arrived sooner than I would have liked, and pre-race nerves were in full effect (what the heck had happened to ALL the confidence I had earlier in the week?). I just wanted to get the show on the road. "Just get me on my bike, and let me pedal." After getting a back-up Mach 429 set up, and making sure my own Mach 429 was ready to go, it was almost time for take-off.
I lined up for the LeMans running start. The gun goes off and, like a herd of cattle, we are off and running. The run felt like forever, and when I arrived to where I KNEW I had set my bike up NOTHING!!!!!! Not only was my heart rate already sky high from the run, now my bike is GONE! I scramble around and finally find it. Someone, at some point, had laid it down on the ground about 10 ft. away. Momentarily I had thought. "Seriously, someone actually stole my bike prior to the race?" I tried to erase the panic from my mind, and pedaled my butt off to make up ground. No way was I going to get stuck walking behind those who couldn't manage to ride up the first climb. Mission accomplished, and the first lap went smoothly. I came across the transition area in 3rd place. I was happy...only 22.5 more hours to go. My 2nd and 3rd laps were "Eh". Those 2 laps always seem to haunt me in any race, but I still hung on to 3rd place. As long as I could hold on to 3rd, I was stoked. I just hoped to bank on my consistency, and move up later in the race. The first 12 hours were pretty uneventful. Jari Kirkland was out in first by A LOT (and out with a vengeance from last year, but who could blame her?). I focused on holding on to 3rd, and plugging away at 2nd.
Around 10pm to midnight, I noticed my left knee acting up, but decided to ignore it heck, I could ignore it for 12 more hours (so I thought) because I was having an amazing race. Fourth place passed me once in the middle of the night, but I quickly caught her back, no worries. Night laps were going good, and I had NO desire to sleep. But my knee kept nagging.
I was still in 3rd as daylight broke. 4th place passed me again (on what would be my 2nd to last lap), but I passed her and cranked on the downhill-ish sections to gain ground on her. I knew I was going to have trouble climbing at this point since I could not even stand up and pedal. Stabbing knee pain tends to do that to a person.
I got to the last climb of my 10th lap, and kept looking back for 4th. Nothing. As I got near the top of the climb, I looked back, and there she was. All I wanted to do, honestly, was cry. Between the pain and the thought of losing 3rd place at this point in the game, all I could do was hope that she was WAY more exhausted at that point than I was.
Sadly, my legs felt amazing. It was just my knee that couldn't hang. She passed me and I tried to go with her. I caught her on the descent, but once it came to pedaling again...nothing. There it was, I was now in a fight to hang on to 4th. The hardest thing to have to do in these races, or any race, is to feel like you are "handing over" your position to your competition.
I finished out my 11th lap, which kept me in 4th place in the end.
On the up side of things, I thought only the top 3 finishers would have podium spots, but I was pleasantly surprised to find otherwise. It softened the blow a little. So there I was 4th at the US National Championship race!
So, is this the end of the season for me, you may ask? (because I can guarantee that I was telling myself it was this entire race...) The answer is no. I'm shooting for redemption, and doing the 12 Hrs of Temecula race in November! Update to follow! Special thanks, as always, go out to ALL of my sponsors who have supported me throughout the season: Pivot Cycles (Chris, a HUGE thank you for letting me race the Mach 429 this season!!! It has performed beautifully!!!), Kenda Tires, FSA, DT Swiss, Hammer Nutrition (thanks Steve for bringing me ALL the product I needed for the race), Magura, Sheila Moon (thanks for supplying me with a bunch of awesome new clothing that kept me warm and toasty at night!), Sidi, Ergon, Beljum Budder, Dakine, Thule, Zeal Optics,and my local shop Win's Wheels for dealing with the mess that I always seem to bring you last minute!
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