Getting Lucky in Kentucky

Way back when in April or so I went ahead and registered for the 12 Hours of Capital view, promoted by Troy Hearn (whom I worked with at Applebees in Lexington, Ky in the early 90's) Troy owns Capital City Cycles in Frankfort as well. Lyna and I planned on making it to Ky to visit family around that time anyways. I really didn't do too much specific training for a race of this length, although 2 weeks prior I had close to 18 hours on the bike, including 10 hours in 3 days.

So We made it to Kentucky on Thursday night, Friday, I put the bike together and went to Troys shop to seat my tires and get a trail map, the course was not marked, so I just rode around the trails for an hour, I got dizzy with all the twists and turns.

Saturday AM included a huge thunderstorm, lasting till around noon, the rest of the day was clear though.

Sunday, race day, not Utah. Woke up at 4:30 am to eat and pack and drive to the race course, race start was delayed for 30 minutes, not a problem though.

The lemans run was longish, for me, so I jogged to my bike and took off at the back of the pack, the first lap had several corners not marked, and at least the people in front of me figured it out, by the end of Lap one I had made my way past a lot of riders. I had no idea where I was, but I just kept a steady sub xc pace. there were several mud holes, in corners, I watched several rides go down in them, as they were trying to go too fast. There were 3 or 4 steep, sudden climbs, that i was able to climb all but one every lap. There was one root/tree section that ate my lunch for the first half of the race, till i found the line. Great course though.

At the end of lap 3 I came to my pit area and saw 2 riders I knew were racing solo at theirs, I chomped down half a pb&j and took off, Lap 4 I did at an XC pace, to get in front of them. I had a blast, one of them got around me on the next lap.

Lyna showed up about 7 hours in and found out I was in the top 3 and that we were separated by 5 minutes max, I kept my pace, cause anything can happen. I started to memorize the 8ish mile course and all its tight fun onetrack, and had a lot of fun each lap. Lap 10 and 11, I hit a dark spot and lost 15 minutes and was ready to stop, but then I came around again for 12 and 13. At the end of 13 it was just before 7pm and the cut off was 7:29. I asked how close the rider behind me was, to be sure I held onto 3rd, I was informed that the guy in 2nd, left after completing 13 laps, upset for some reason, Lyna tried to get him back on his bike, bu the packed up and went home, so if I went out for 14, I would jump to 2nd. I debated for a few minutes, and took off, the lap was fun, and faster than the previous 2. The guy ahead of me, finished 14 before 7:30 and thought he was in 2nd, so he took off for a 15th lap, which he didn't need to do.

In the end, I ended up 2nd, which is more than I expected. I had fun, and was not overly worked. I spent 30 minutes in the pit zone total, but that was worth it, as I stayed fueled, hydrated and cool as a result. The 90 degree heat and super high humidity did not hurt me too bad and the long time on the bike, while I was sore, did not hurt my knee, which after last years knee issues, was a blessing.

Again, the race was great, low key, great volunteers, 25 dollar entry (I won 30) although the delta bike fees crushed me. The course was great, reminded me a lot of the Jackson Hole course, without as much climbing, but the same tight one track, much buffer trail though.

Troy did a great job and if the stars align, we will be back in 2011, oh and I made the news.