24-9 A Catastrophic Failure

After some of the lap times I've been running at night there at 9-mile, I was very optimistic about the outcome of this race.  I knew what times I needed and where.  Food was set, bike was clean, numbers on and lined up behind Brandon.  The cannon goes off and we take off in a scene that would rival that of a cattle stampede.  I get on the bike and ride right behind scott into the first tech section of singletrack and descend out I lose scott and joel hynes right away due to a dropped chain, but do catch back up heading into ho chi.  Before you know it there is a huge gap formed now and kept a really good pace heading across redbud rd and as I entered the second group of singletrack, go past the stumps and I heard the bang I never thought I would have to hear and to my suprise my frame is broke, no worries at this point though I would still have a lap time that would keep me alive in the overall but now in 43rd of 56.  

On the 2nd lap I jumped onto my singlespeed and continued on a good second lap clawing my way back up to 25th and proceeded into the 3rd I .  The 3rd lap started out great but when it came to climbing out of trail #6 to cross redbud my knee began to shoot some sharp pains and before I knew it I couldn't apply pressure on the climbs.  So I finished the 3rd lap in terrible pain and fought my way up to 17th at this point, but Adam from Ellsworth hooked me up with a demo for the rest of the race if I wanted it so I switched pedals adjusted the seat and off I went.  My thought process for the 4th lap was to slow it down, recover, see how the knee feels and go from there.  I didn't even make to the first singletrack section before my knee started up again and now it was getting to the point where I couldn't put any pressure on it at all.  So I unclipped and rested it as I took the "y" bypass back to the pits and turned in my card and cancelled the 4th lap.  

A very bad day indeed, I felt good, nutrition was setup the way I wanted and had great support.  It just goes to show that even on your best days you can still have things go wrong.  At this point I don't know what will happen going down the road for 2009.  Chequamegon is still a go since I am in the singlespeed class (still not sure if that's a good idea considering the knee problem) and Iceman which again I signed up for the singlespeed class.  Underdown I should have a new bike by then but bluemounds wems might have to come off the schedule and maybe the 12 of pitchblack as well.  

Thanks goes to all of the people on the course who offered to help not knowing the situation.  Also, thanks to Scott Cole for his offering to help as well as his great crew.  Also, Adam from Ellsworth was a great help and ready to let me use a demo that Liz (24 solo womens winner) had literally put together the night before in which the glimpse worked great.  Evomo for their kick ass hoody that kept me warm throughout the night.  MotorTabs kept me hydrated, Ergon, Titec, Simbree, Tifosi, Brave Soldier, and Rocky Mountian Roastery for all their support this season.  Only 363 more days till I come back to 24 hour racing.  Redemption will be the word to describe 2010!