This past weekend was a great one for the Pivot Cycles crew! We won the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo duo division and our office team had a moral victory, finishing 10th in the 5 person co-ed division.
Our A-Team consisted of Brian Bennett and Ernesto Marenchin who were contending for the overall in the duo category. Both guys have been top 5 finishers at some of the bigger solo events around the country and know how to lay it down. Brian opened the race with a blistering fast 1:04 time over the 16-mile course. Ernesto was only a minute slower on his opening lap. The pair didn't slow down their pace until lap 7, when they finally started turning laps in the 1:10 range.
Ernesto proved he's a hard man by finishing lap 6 in 1:09 after being taken out by another rider and put into a very large cactus, bending his front wheel in the process. After finishing his lap he spent 45 minutes in the med tent getting the cactus spines pulled from his arms and legs while our tech rep and all-around good guy Joshua Baker tried to fix his wheel. An hour or so later he got back on his bike with a slightly less taco'd wheel and turned a 1:11.
The guys didn't slow down all night long and by the end of the 24 hours, the team was up by almost 2 laps over the nearest competition. Brian was riding his Mach 4 for the entire event. Ernesto rolled his 429.
Further back in the pack, the Pivot crew was ripping out some decent laps to place a very respectable 10th place. As I mentioned, it was a moral victory for us. We're all good riders, but we all work very hard and haven't trained for a race in a very long time. The 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo was kind of a whim for us and we approached the event with a pretty casual attitude. Basically we were just going to have fun.
But once the race started, those old competitive juices started flowing. Kenny, an extremely skilled rider who assembles sold bikes and helps fabricate in the shop, volunteered to take the first lap - including the run. None of us wanted to do the run, so we were stoked. It ended up being a nice walk to his bike. The start of the race is total chaos and it takes a couple laps for the course to clear up a bit. Kenny turned a 1:20 on his first lap, taking it easy in all the traffic and saving himself for later in the race. On his second lap he turned a team-best 1:15. On his 36 lb Firebird that he uses for dirt jumping and freeride. At night.
Richard Cunningham, one of the editors at Mountain Bike Action, was up next and turned a 1:18 on his 429. He is a fit guy for being 56 year's old. He was fun to have around the campfire and helped the 24 hours pass quickly. He has lots of stories to tell and gave us some good advice during the race.
Chris, Pivot's founder, was up next. He turned a 1:19 on his Mach 4, which is pretty impressive considering he has a pretty bad back from a motorcycle accident last year. His back acted up on his second lap and his leg actually fell asleep. He got off and walked/ran for a bit until the feeling came back, but he only slowed down to a 1:34.
Cindy, who is Chris's wife, was up next. She is pretty mellow when you see her in the office, but she is a competitor when she gets on the bike. She couldn't get the baton fast enough from Chris. She was a little concerned about her lack of training coming into the race, but she dug deep and turned a 1:20. I think she had more fun than anyone over the weekend. By the end of the weekend she was spent and happy. (2 days later, she's still whooped, but is asking when the next race is.)
I (Adam, the marketing guy) was the anchor and team captain. I probably had fewer miles under me than anyone this year and was a bit aprehensive about holding up for the whole weekend. My nervousness (and the Double-Double from In n Out Burger) were really messing with my stomach. I dug pretty deep on lap one and turned a 1:16. I finished my lap in the dark, came back to camp and had a beer. I found it hard to eat much and couldn't sleep. I was in a bit of a daze on my first night lap until I went off trail and just missed a giant cholla. After my last lap in the morning I was famished after eating banana bread and Hammer Gel all night and had the best steak sandwich ever made.
Richard was the last man to go and was pushing to get back before the 12:00 cutoff so we could get another lap in. He missed it by a minute. In then end, it wouldn't have mattered as we still would have finished in 10th.
A special thanks is due to Joshua for helping out at the expo and keeping us going through the night. Thanks also are due to the Epic Ride crew who put on a great event.
