12 Hours of Cranky Monkey

This race was an example of why people mountain bike race, and especially at the relay events. The team had good energy with people helping out one another, and making sure people were eating and drinking, when their stomachs did not want to. When you have a team atmosphere things like a broken chain, a flat don’t seem as bad when your teammates boost your spirits.
This race was like Lodi but during the day, with the vibe being great, all the local teams were out contesting the race. The course suited me in that it was a slow course. There were some fast sections, but most of it had really tight turns that you could not carve, you had to slow down. There was also a fair amount of climbing which usually helps me.
I did this race with Kent, and MattyD who are two really good mountain bikers, I was hoping to help the team and not hinder it. Their lap times at Big Bear were faster than mine, sometimes 5-10 minutes faster, so I wasn't sure if I would be helping my team in this race. It was decided that I would go last in our rotation, in the eventuality that I might not have to do an extra lap. MattyD started us off and he did a great job going through traffic, and then Kent went out and did a :47 lap time! This gave us the lead that we would never give up. I was able to do lap times that were the same avg. as my teammates with a 49:30 as my fastest. By the third lap, I started to feel the power in my legs going, so I was happy I only did 4 laps. My Achilles tendon was hurting me still from Big Bear, but after the first lap and some Ibuprofen It didn't really bother me again. The only other issue I had was that I fell the last lap. The fall was because I was tired and I washed out in a corner. The ground felt like asphalt and the resulting bruise on my hip shows that it was hard. That didn't really bother my during the race, but I wasn't been able to sleep on that side of my body for a week.
This was a great race, and I can't believe how well the DCMTB/City Bikes team did; we got 1st and 3rd expert, 1st vet and 3rd open Duo. I think this will be a mainstay in Mt. calendar like Lodi if they are allowed to have it again.

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