The 8th Annual 24 and 6 Hours of Halloween

On Saturday the 26th, a friend of mine shanghaied me into racing a 6 hour mountain bike race.  It was the 2013 24-and-6-HOURS-of-HALLOWEEN presented by The Dirt Club in Los Olivos, CA.  I only did one lap, 10.5 miles, which took me just over an hour.

It was a TOUGH course, my one lap had 1400 feet of elevation gain.  The climbing itself was very technical, lots of switchbacks and pretty steep at some points.  The descents were equally technical and fun.  Some were switchbacks while other descents were just straight as she goes.  The straight ones were sweet! I could just let it fly, no brakes, tons of speed.  The total lap was nuts and I was more than happy to hit the start/finish line and call it a day.

Plenty of people that were in no better shape than I am soldiered on.  It was impressive to see both their mental and physical states change each lap as they came through the start/finish line.  It was immediately obvious when they were completely spent.  I think most average riders, both male and female, only completed three or four laps before calling it quits.



My one measly lap was fun though.  I haven't raced or ridden like that in a very long time.  I could feel it in my legs immediately on the steeper climbs.  All of my riding this year has been commuting to work and back.  Where I live in SoCal that equates to extremely flat riding.  There is a gradual climb to work and a gradual descent going home, but it is imperceptible.

I'm pretty sure my friend does this every year.  He was saying that they had changed the course for this year's race and that it was tougher than previous year's courses.

So, now I know what to expect in October and I will be able to actually train for this event next year.  The ultimate idea is to complete a lap in about an hour's time.  That way you get in six laps or 60 miles of riding.  What is crazy is the 8500 feet of elevation gain that would equate to.  That is a fair amount of climbing for any ride.

Even more incentive: my friend placed 2nd in the 6hr solo single speed race! He even won some cash. In other words, I have my work cut out for me.

Clayton