I raced the 12 Hours of Sundance as a duo with my teammate Aaron on Saturday. The first 8 hours were great. The course was just less than seven miles, with 900 feet of climbing per lap. Clouds loomed low all day, and there was a bit of rain here and there, but the trails were in great shape. Aaron and I were a well-oiled machine; we never lost so much as a second in any of our transitions. Josh Wolfe and Matt Harding were giving us our stiffest competition, but we took the lead on our fourth or fifth lap and settled into a steady rhythm after that. One of us would ride a 35 minute lap while the other rested. Then we would switch. It was like clockwork.
On our fourteenth lap the heavens opened and the rain finally made good on the threats it had been making all day. We were 8 hours into the 12 hour race. When Aaron met me at the transition area he told me it was slippery and sticky, but when I went out for our fifteenth lap I didn't think it was as bad as he had described it. This is until I got to one of the service roads that we had to climb. Both wheels were bound with mud within seconds. I tried to carry my bike but it weighed about 50 lbs by then. I pulled some mud away with my hands and pushed my bike up the hill where I could coast down the other side. But I was losing valuable time.
About a quarter mile from the lap area the trail turned uphill for about 50 feet. I foolishly tried to shift to a lower gear (I had been having all sorts of shifting problems in the mud) and my derailleur shifted into the spokes, which sheared the derailleur hanger clean off. I had to get off and push again to the top of the hill where I stopped and pulled the derailleur and chain out of the spokes so I could coast down the paved road to the end of the lap. I had to kick at the ground like I was on a skateboard a few times to get across the line. I was thinking I was lucky to have my brother's bike there as a backup but Aaron met me at the line in his street clothes and without his bike, and told me the race was over and we had won.
It was a sloppy, sticky good time, but all I won was a silly medal, which when I went up to accept, someone shouted “Give him a derailleur.” I owe a big thanks to Mags and my mom, and Arthur, who provided support for us. Maybe I should give them a chunk of my medal.
Good job Chad! I was just talking with a guy on the team that won the 4-man, and his derailleur also go caught in his spokes during his last lap, and broke a few of his spokes. He ended up carrying his bike over the final climb.
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