24 hour solo World Championships
- Madeline Bemis
- Feb 25, 2016
- 7 min read
Click on the Fatty Cast logo above to hear my podcast for race prep and excitement leading up to the race day, and then the race report and debriefing from afterwards!
The first two laps went well as I settled into my pace, but then I started falling apart first physically and then emotionally. I felt exhausted and couldn’t explain why, and my attitude changed in response to this. I kept pushing on but continued to get passed by other racers. So I downed some caffeine, and was encouraged as my dad was receiving messages from Team Bemis supporters back home, letting me know that they were cheering for me from the other side of the world.
I got my second wind, and it was a hurricane. Suddenly I felt fast and invincible. I began powering through laps with a high heart rate, passing people as I went. I was greatly encouraged by this burst of energy and optimistic about the hours ahead. I chit chatted with other racers as I went. There were riders from around the world, and everyone was extremely polite and courteous to one other like I’ve never seen before. I especially enjoyed talking to the U23 boys, all of whom were either Aussies (Australians) or Kiwis (New Zealanders). We had fun imitating each others’ accents and talking about our local mountain bike scenes. The course was absolutely incredible. It was lush with the type of riding that cyclists dream about, and was enjoyable to ride (at least for the first 6 hrs or so.) It was definitely world class, with technical tree roots, stairs to descend, and crazy drop-offs. On two parts of the course there were options to take either the fast, steep, and more dangerous route, or the alternate which was slower yet safer. I opted to take the faster route each lap. The closest thing to recovery on this wild course was the slightly inclining gravel fire roads, as the up and downhill single-track took muscle and strength to maneuver through. My upper body began to ache from having to stand up out of the saddle for the majority of each lap.
At lap 8 it began to get dark, yet I was still energized. I was moving up in both the women’s elite and U23 categories. I was riding in front of one of the U23 boys and slid out on a berm, crashing right in front of him, scraping my left arm and getting a massive bruise on my outer thigh that would bother me with every pedal stroke for the remaining 17 hours. Upon passing one of the elite woman racers about 5 mins later, I crashed again, this time hitting my face but also bending my seat. A bit shaken up, I decided to take it easy for the remainder of the lap. Towards the very end, however, as I was heading into the pit zone, my seat unexpectedly fell of its post! I quickly hopped off my bike, threw the seat in my camelback, and rode out of the saddle until I reached the Team Bemis pit. Frantically Daddy and Coach Kevin tried to put the seat back in its place to get me rolling again asap, but they quickly realized that the electric blue seat post clamp was missing. Kevin ran back into the forest to find it while Daddy hurried to get his bike ready for me to take a lap on while he and Kevin figured out a seat solution. I had never ridden Daddy’s bike before, and the geometry of it was completely different which made me nervous. Just then Kevin came running out of the bushes with the seat post clamp, so as I ate he and Daddy put it back on, bent the seat back as much as possible without any tools, and I was off into the dark forest once again.
Looking at a 24 hr race as a whole is overwhelming, so I broke it down into 4 6-hr chunks: the start, into the night, until dawn, and then the finish after sunrise. The night laps were long and tiresome, but certainly NOT quiet. Each lap, Daddy would meet me at what we called the Party Palace, which consisted of crazy young men yelling, screaming, whistling, and whooping at riders as they went by to keep them awake. They lined the trailhead with beer in one hand, and the other outstretched to give riders high-fives. Party Palace had a disco ball, blaring music, colored lights, and one of the guys was rumored to be mooning racers as they passed. Rest assured, passing Party Palace was definitely something to look forward to each lap.
In addition to Party Palace residents, the forest came alive at night with possums and wallaby, as well as loud birds and beetles that at times sounded a little like a leaky tire. There was a full moon (yes, the REAL moon) during the night which aided in seeing the technical course, especially since I did occasionally have issues with either my handlebar or headlight going out, but thankfully never both at the same time. At the beginning of the race I had intended to sleep for 90 mins at some point in the night, and Kevin had set up his one-person tent for me to do so. However, over the last month or so I’ve developed ingrown toenails that only hurt after a ride. During the ride I experience little to no pain, but as soon as I would stop to eat the pain became unbearable until I started riding again. For this reason, I decided that riding at this point was going to be the best option. Looking back now I’m glad I didn’t sleep, so I guess my ingrown toenails were a good thing. Never thought I would say that.
I wore my Camelback for the entire race, and I was highly motivated to drink for many reasons, but the most important being to justify stopping to sit and rest inside the porta potty every chance I got. I was so exhausted and fatigued out on the course that I would rather have just hung out in the porta potty all night. Yes, this is 24 hr racing. Throughout the night I would ask the kiwi riders what time the sun was expected to rise and most of them said 6:00, so I held on to hope. Sunshine would bring warmth, eliminate any chances of light problems, and make the trails easier to see. When the sunrise finally did come I also got a natural burst of energy. The 10 long night hours were over. 6 more to go. By this time I had ridden about 150 miles and climbed 15,000 feet. My hands were rubbed raw and my arms and wrists felt bruised even though I had taken Kevin’s gloves in the early hours of the race. The once-fun single-track turned into a nightmare as I cringed going over each monotonous root.
At around 9:30 Sunday morning I had moved up to 4th place for the overall U23 category which consisted of 10 boys and myself. I was also in 6th for elite women. I intended to either keep or improve these places by completing 3 more laps. Racers were aloud to continue riding after noon if we were able to start our lap before then. It was 11:40 when I came in from my 18th lap, and was feeling weak and fatigued. I had already begun mildly hallucinating. I saw cyclists in the ferns in colorful kits and heard tires against the ground and gears shifting behind me. But time and time again, I looked back and saw no-one. The roots on the ground began to look like snakes, alligators, and mice with long tails. I have always feared experiencing such hallucinations, but these were not scary, just bizarre.
I had already won the female U23 World Championship title, and the other U23 boys had stopped riding but the women were still persevering. I thought about my family and friends back in America watching the live timing and cheering me on. I remembered every member of Team Bemis that had followed my story and generously donated their hard-earned money for me to race in New Zealand. I thought about Coach Kevin and Daddy who had stayed up all night feeding me, riding with me, setting up my lights, and relaying messages from supporters back at home. I thought about Rebecca Rusch climbing Mt Kilimanjaro with her mountain bike, and how honored I am to have received her expert support and advice. I heard Sonya Looney, 2015 WEMBO World Champ who wasn’t able to race this year due to a bad crash earlier in the week, cheering me on from the sidelines. I thought about the Fatty Cast who didn’t know me personally but still supported my journey wholeheartedly. I thought about Empire Bikes back at home and how proud they would be to see me cross the finish line. I thought about my teammates and other coaches on my high school team, Corona Composite. I reflected on all the mornings I had gotten up at the crack of dawn to train for this race by doing long all-day rides, often by myself, no matter what the weather was like or how much weekend homework I had. So I went out for my 19th lap. It was my longest lap of the race, and I finished with the course sweeps on my tail. I had every intention of coming through the finish line smiling for the camera with my hands in the air victoriously. But instead I broke down in Daddy’s arms sobbing, and I felt like I was in a dream. The world around me was blurry and incomprehensible, and I couldn’t stand on my own. All the emotion that I had pushed aside for 25 hours had come out in a whirlwind. The mood swings, the fear, the competition, the hallucinations, the mania, the mechanicals. I didn’t allow any of it to take a toll on my emotions until now.
190 miles and 20,000 feet of climbing. The most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life thus far. 1st place female U23, 4th place overall U23, and 5th place women’s elite out of 28 world-class athletes. I am honored to wear the World Champion rainbow stripes, and thank you once again for your support of the epic Team Bemis adventure.
Comments