Rudy
Peace Bunny
Anmerkung:
Rudy hat Solo 216 Meilen gefahren - 340 km auf einem Singlespeeder!!! Zusätzlich hat er diese Strecke schon bis 6 Uhr am Morgen zurückgelegt - in 18 Stunden und musste dann mit einer Verletzung aufgeben!!
"We are not worthy Rudy - ... !" (phaty)
So the race. What a weekend. It's been dry as desicated cowpie out here.
No rain for months it seems until the week before the event, and then down
pours. I mean buckets. I mean the course needed it, because it was like
riding on a road with a light dusting of sand. Slippery
But the rain saved the day.
So I get out to the course on Friday night, and my buddies are hiding out in
a pop-up camper drinking, well except for St. Jon who's feeling ill, but he
a tough old bugger and promise to be supporting me. And it rains and we
drink, and drink and drink. We drink in the evening, and we drink in the
night. And it rains. It rains through the night and into Saturday, and at
noon, race time, its drizzeling and threating more.
So I start the race
without my offical Tutu, but I am sporting a fine jersey with world champ
strips with a big black chainring shape sporting Eisenschweinkader der IBC
Berlin/Brandenburg. ESK in bold blue with yellow glow , and SEID BREIT.
One of a kind. I was feeling heroic!
At the sound of a shotgun we were off. I don't know if you have ever done
24 hr event, but Le Mans starts are a thing of amazement. There's the folks
in the back trotting the 500 meters to the bikes and the folks who sprint.
It is always easy to spot the sprinters later since they are generally dying
somewhere out on the first lap, but there generally part of a team so they
will not ride more than 76 miles, no biggy ( no big deal, eh.)
The course goes a bit like this. The first lap we forego the first short
section of singletrack to avoid a bottleneck and charge down a drit road to
the pipeline road. The pipeline road is a classic AZ. It cuts the
landscape in a straight line, up and down hills with out any regard to the
terrain. This leads to short steep power hills. I'm a good climber but
these are not my cup of tea, too short. Anyhow on a single speed you can
always see the mind of the geared at work. "Hmmm, I am half way up this
steep hill and I'm in to big of a gear. Let's shift! OH NO, my chain has
just jammed or broke and I am now fall in front of a hard charging
singlespeeder." The Fools! It seems that they all forget how to ride a
bike. After the pipeline. we get some fine singletrack. Total singlespeed
stuff. St. Jon made it that way. It's to twisty for big gears to get
rolling. Great stuff that twists and turn around cactus and rocks. Then
there's a short road transition and we're on to more singletrack. This
section is fast and the folks were all jamin down it. I was riding behind
Brandon at this time. He was going faster than I wanted to ride, but he
taunted me so I couldn't hold back. That section done and on the next rise
I left Brandon for good. The next time I saw him he was two laps down on
me. Err, I should have just kept my pace. After a bit of rolling dirt road
we find some more singletrack. This section is rolling slightly uphill with
a surprize wash crossing ( fast and rocky ) toward its end. Then a good
long section of dirt road. I must say that dirt road is your friend on a 24
hr solo. Makes eating and drinking a bit easier. And you have to choke
down quite a bit of liquid and food stuff to ride 24 hours. This being my
first solo I was worried about getting in enough food. I drank two bottles
and a bag of mashed potatos, plus some chocolate coverd espresso beans per
lap. Needless to say I was pissing. Back to the course. Next section is
called the powerline. And this is because....... it's under a powerline.
Don't touch your bikes here, cause your gonna get a shock. This is the
nastiest part of the course because of rain ruts and wash crossings. You
can really get beat up here, but then once you get here you start thinking
one more section of singletrack and I'm home. This last section of
singletrack is called the highpoint trail. Not much of a climb but it will
make you pay over time. This is followed by a descent into the start
finish. Fast and fun. It's a blast of a course.
And my race unfolded like this. My first five laps were great. I was
flying. I was running about 1:22 per lap and was in the top placings in the
singlespeed catagory. Tinker Juarez passed me on lap five, he was riding
solo but not singlespeed. And he's a Professional and I'm not. Man is he
good. Anyhow lap six my gearing and all the excellerations to pass people
is starting to effect me ( OH FOOL OF THE MAN THAT I AM ) and I adjust my
pedaling style ( note for next time - START WITH A SMALLER GEAR). This
leads to some knee discomfort but I am now in first place and there's no
stopping me. I will not feel the pain. I just thought of Edmund Shakelton
and the Endeavour. Eight days in a dingy in the Antartic Seas. I can deal
with a little pain. At five in the morning I'm really suffering but I am
way out in the lead. But things are about to change. You see there's this
rubbing going on near my thigh and my scrotum. Now, I have turned off most
of my pain receptors but here comes something new. Suddenly the rubbing
turns to liquid feeling and I can't sit and I can barely turn the pedals.
It seems that I developed a huge ( pain talking here ) blister and it burst.
I have completed 11 and one half laps, its six in the morning and all I can
do is walk. My race is over. I finish my last lap walking. 216 miles of
riding.
I can't wait to do it again.
Lots of love and thanks for all the support. You guys are great.
Thanks for all the anti-war protest.
Love and Peace
Rudy
Teile des Kurses - mehr Bilder bald ... incl. Rudy im ESK Trikot!
Rudy hat Solo 216 Meilen gefahren - 340 km auf einem Singlespeeder!!! Zusätzlich hat er diese Strecke schon bis 6 Uhr am Morgen zurückgelegt - in 18 Stunden und musste dann mit einer Verletzung aufgeben!!
"We are not worthy Rudy - ... !" (phaty)
So the race. What a weekend. It's been dry as desicated cowpie out here.
No rain for months it seems until the week before the event, and then down
pours. I mean buckets. I mean the course needed it, because it was like
riding on a road with a light dusting of sand. Slippery
But the rain saved the day.
So I get out to the course on Friday night, and my buddies are hiding out in
a pop-up camper drinking, well except for St. Jon who's feeling ill, but he
a tough old bugger and promise to be supporting me. And it rains and we
drink, and drink and drink. We drink in the evening, and we drink in the
night. And it rains. It rains through the night and into Saturday, and at
noon, race time, its drizzeling and threating more.
So I start the race
without my offical Tutu, but I am sporting a fine jersey with world champ
strips with a big black chainring shape sporting Eisenschweinkader der IBC
Berlin/Brandenburg. ESK in bold blue with yellow glow , and SEID BREIT.
One of a kind. I was feeling heroic!
At the sound of a shotgun we were off. I don't know if you have ever done
24 hr event, but Le Mans starts are a thing of amazement. There's the folks
in the back trotting the 500 meters to the bikes and the folks who sprint.
It is always easy to spot the sprinters later since they are generally dying
somewhere out on the first lap, but there generally part of a team so they
will not ride more than 76 miles, no biggy ( no big deal, eh.)
The course goes a bit like this. The first lap we forego the first short
section of singletrack to avoid a bottleneck and charge down a drit road to
the pipeline road. The pipeline road is a classic AZ. It cuts the
landscape in a straight line, up and down hills with out any regard to the
terrain. This leads to short steep power hills. I'm a good climber but
these are not my cup of tea, too short. Anyhow on a single speed you can
always see the mind of the geared at work. "Hmmm, I am half way up this
steep hill and I'm in to big of a gear. Let's shift! OH NO, my chain has
just jammed or broke and I am now fall in front of a hard charging
singlespeeder." The Fools! It seems that they all forget how to ride a
bike. After the pipeline. we get some fine singletrack. Total singlespeed
stuff. St. Jon made it that way. It's to twisty for big gears to get
rolling. Great stuff that twists and turn around cactus and rocks. Then
there's a short road transition and we're on to more singletrack. This
section is fast and the folks were all jamin down it. I was riding behind
Brandon at this time. He was going faster than I wanted to ride, but he
taunted me so I couldn't hold back. That section done and on the next rise
I left Brandon for good. The next time I saw him he was two laps down on
me. Err, I should have just kept my pace. After a bit of rolling dirt road
we find some more singletrack. This section is rolling slightly uphill with
a surprize wash crossing ( fast and rocky ) toward its end. Then a good
long section of dirt road. I must say that dirt road is your friend on a 24
hr solo. Makes eating and drinking a bit easier. And you have to choke
down quite a bit of liquid and food stuff to ride 24 hours. This being my
first solo I was worried about getting in enough food. I drank two bottles
and a bag of mashed potatos, plus some chocolate coverd espresso beans per
lap. Needless to say I was pissing. Back to the course. Next section is
called the powerline. And this is because....... it's under a powerline.
Don't touch your bikes here, cause your gonna get a shock. This is the
nastiest part of the course because of rain ruts and wash crossings. You
can really get beat up here, but then once you get here you start thinking
one more section of singletrack and I'm home. This last section of
singletrack is called the highpoint trail. Not much of a climb but it will
make you pay over time. This is followed by a descent into the start
finish. Fast and fun. It's a blast of a course.
And my race unfolded like this. My first five laps were great. I was
flying. I was running about 1:22 per lap and was in the top placings in the
singlespeed catagory. Tinker Juarez passed me on lap five, he was riding
solo but not singlespeed. And he's a Professional and I'm not. Man is he
good. Anyhow lap six my gearing and all the excellerations to pass people
is starting to effect me ( OH FOOL OF THE MAN THAT I AM ) and I adjust my
pedaling style ( note for next time - START WITH A SMALLER GEAR). This
leads to some knee discomfort but I am now in first place and there's no
stopping me. I will not feel the pain. I just thought of Edmund Shakelton
and the Endeavour. Eight days in a dingy in the Antartic Seas. I can deal
with a little pain. At five in the morning I'm really suffering but I am
way out in the lead. But things are about to change. You see there's this
rubbing going on near my thigh and my scrotum. Now, I have turned off most
of my pain receptors but here comes something new. Suddenly the rubbing
turns to liquid feeling and I can't sit and I can barely turn the pedals.
It seems that I developed a huge ( pain talking here ) blister and it burst.
I have completed 11 and one half laps, its six in the morning and all I can
do is walk. My race is over. I finish my last lap walking. 216 miles of
riding.
I can't wait to do it again.
Lots of love and thanks for all the support. You guys are great.
Thanks for all the anti-war protest.
Love and Peace
Rudy
Teile des Kurses - mehr Bilder bald ... incl. Rudy im ESK Trikot!
. we are proud of knowing you!
