24 hours too!

[Pedal Wench]

Across the country, in an entirely different type of environment, I'm doing a 24-hour solo race too! Mine is an intown alleycat - 4 check points in an approximate 12-mile loop, but it's on open roads, through downtown, route is up to you, and traffic will be a mess. Everyone else's (Wahine and Susan) sound like much more fun!

I've done ones that start in the morning and finish the next morning. And, I've done brevets that start at midnight. This one is noon to noon, and I'm curious to see how I feel an hour after the sun comes up.

[katluvr]

WOW! You go girl...12 mile loop...I think I would go crazy repeating it!
Good luck!:)

[Pedal Wench]

WOW! You go girl...12 mile loop...I think I would go crazy repeating it!
Good luck!:)

It's intown, and you can take any route from checkpoint to checkpoint, so depending on traffic, I'll be changing it up.

And, the 24-hour race I do in February (in Sebring - come and race too!) is on a 3.7-mile loop all night long - this will be wonderful compared to that!

[OakLeaf]

Wow. Good luck and please be safe.

I've spoken very sternly to DH about sleep deprivation on the moto, and it's something I feel very strongly about. It's right up there with inebriation and talking on the phone, in terms of impairment. So please, please, please be safe.

[Wahine]

The traffic would bother me but it sounds like a good race. Good luck and let us know how you do. It will be really interesting to hear your report of how you feel in the morning.

[kacie tri-ing]

Where in town is this going on? Good luck! I assume the knee is doing better!

[Susan Otcenas]

Dealing with all that traffic sounds way more challenging than riding on quiet country roads!

Have fun, and be careful!

Susan

[spokewench]

From my experience of 24 hour racing; you will feel terrible before the daylight; right before dawn; I remember feeling like giving it up about that time.

There is something about the sun coming up and rejuvenates you and makes you feel like you can keep going.

I remember starting to see the sky lightening and the stars slowly disappating and then the sun peaking over the horizon - I gave out a sigh of relief and then really enjoyed the sunrise.

spoke

[Pedal Wench]

Where in town is this going on? Good luck! I assume the knee is doing better!

This is the first test of the knee. I did two centuries last weekend and it felt okay - stiff at the beginning of the first one, and then fine.

The race has four checkpoints, and you get to them however you want - Elliot St. Pub by the GA Dome, Gear Revival near GA Tech, The Nook by Piedmont Park (with the Art Festival going on), to Outback Bikes in Little 5 Points, No Brakes, then back to Elliot St. With the Art Festival in the park, a BBQ festival at Turner Field, and major construction on the interstates forcing traffic onto the surface streets, traffic is gonna be intense. Oh well - this is all just practice for Sebring.

[kacie tri-ing]

Good luck! We live next door to the Nook (literally), so perhaps we'll see you come by!

If not, there's a 99% chance we'll see you at Sebring. :D

Be safe!

[Pedal Wench]

Good luck! We live next door to the Nook (literally), so perhaps we'll see you come by!

If not, there's a 99% chance we'll see you at Sebring. :D

Be safe!

Did you see me????

What a wacky, crazy race! I ended up with 216 miles (17 laps), but I stopped at around 9:30 this morning. I could have gotten two more laps before the race ended at noon, but I had no reason. I wasn't going to win (came in second) and things were starting to go numb (hands, big toe, bottom of right foot?) and traffic got insane. The start/stop finish was in a nice deserted area all weekend, until it became Grand Central for the Falcon's football tailgaters who started swarming aroun 8:00. It stopped being fun and became just annoying and dangerous, so I stopped.

People were putting in amazing lap times, but to do so, you had to really just ignore every bit of common sense with regards to playing in traffic. I don't play like that. So, I sat behind a line of cars and watched the top contenders just roll on by. Oh well. My goal was to see if my knee would hold up for over 200 miles, and it did. Elevation gain was between 13,000 (Garmin Connect) to almost 15,000 (Plus3) so I'm understandably whipped.

[Tri Girl]

Holy moly PW!!!!:eek: I missed your thread the first time or I would've wished you luck. Don't think you needed it tho. 216 miles is AMAZING!!!!! I'm in total awe of you! You are INCREDIBLE!!!! Congrats!:D:D:D:D:D

[jobob]

Brilliant! :cool:

[OakLeaf]

Wow, way to go PedalWench!

[Wahine]

Way to go PW!!! Very admirable.:cool:

[kacie tri-ing]

I might have seen you! What were you wearing? I saw someone in a Sorella kit, and I thought it might be you. We walked for a while in the park saturday night.

And now for my rant (which has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the organization of the Nook checkpoint): I can't believe (and DH was really upset) that they set it up so that you were going the wrong way on piedmont--against traffic--on one of the worst intersections--and during a huge event in the park. Seriously. That is so dangerous for you, and bad for the rest of us who cycle in the area because it is so unpredictable. We were worried for you!!! Honestly! I get riding in traffic, but I do not understand why they would set you up to ride against traffic in such a crowded place!

You should be thrilled with 2nd! I am glad you stopped when you did! I got caught in some of that traffic (on my way to go follow the Mac one love route because I don't like riding in midtown traffic during events!).

Congrats!!!! That must have been SO hard!

Do you feel more prepared for sebring? What are you doing to train in the meantime? I am so happy your

[Pedal Wench]

There was another Sorella, but she was on a team so she was doing a lap every few hours. We were both in kits, and both have blonde ponytails, so it would be hard to tell. She's pretty skinny though and I'm a bit curvier. :)

I agree with the mess around Piedmont Park. The "official" route had you going back up 14th to Juniper to 10th (three lefts to account for a one-way street for out-of-towners) but I'm sure everyone either cut through the park, but between the Arts Festival and the park closing early that night because of the festival, most were going up the wrong-way. I tried the sidewalks, and I admit, at 3am, the road was deserted so I rode on the road and pulled over if I saw a car. As soon as the park opened, I went through there.

I start officially training for Sebring in November. What is hubby's goals? It would be great to have folks to work with on the track.

[colby]

That's seriously amazing, and I'm impressed you put up with them even for 90 minutes ;)

Congratulations! Nice job!! :D

[tctrek]

You know, down here in Atlanta they talk about GRITS all the time Girls Raised In The South. It's cute, but has absolutely nothing to do with what you did which is true GRIT!! Absolutely Awesome!