This was my first ever competitive race - complete with timing chip and plenty of night time riding!
 
Encouraged by Ron Swift a few weeks ago I signed up for my first race - "24 Hours in the Canyon". http://www.24hoursinthecanyon.org/. I did not really know if I was actually going to go until early Wednesday when I finished up some last minute work stuff freeing up some time to travel to Palo Duro Canyon, Texas.
 
This would also be my first time every traveling with my Robyn and the vintage Airstream she and her sister use for glamping (i.e. glamorous camping). The Airstream is 41 years old and Robyn and Liz have restored it for participation in their women's group 'Sisters on the Fly'.  
 
The nine hour drive from Georgetown to Palo Duro was full of just beautiful countryside and we took our time enjoying the drive and scenic vistas. We left Georgetown around 6am and arrived in Palo Duro just a little after 3 pm.
 
The race organizers were incredibly organized and we quickly picked up our packet just outside the state park.  
 
All the races started in the campgrounds where we were located with the Airstream - Juniper Day Use Area.
 

 
The 12 hour road race was the route marked in blue on the map. It was an out and back route about 8.7 miles round trip.
 

 
The 24 hour solo road race riders actually climbed out of the canyon (2 mile 10 percent grade) to first do a 100 mile route then back down into the canyon and ride the rest of the time on the 8.7 mile loop. Vickie Tyer (Team Vite) was the only recumbent rider in the 24 hour race (24 Hour Solo Recumbent Female 50+) - hats off to Vicki for climbing the wall!
 
The 24 hour races started at noon on Saturday. The 12 hour races started at midnight Saturday - very dark because the moon did not rise until around 4am. All the 12 hour races started together: mountain, road, recumbent, young, old and crazy-in-the-head.
 

 
Start of the 12 race!
 
At the start of the race the road bikes really took off. Of course without really realizing it I tried to stay with them up for about the first 1/2 mile and half way up the first hill. Once I realized I could not breath I slowed down significantly. Now that everyone really fast started getting way ahead of me, and everyone I should have been pacing with was way behind me, I got to experience first hand riding at night in the middle of nowhere.  
 
I had purchased a pretty good headlight, Nightrider Lumina 650, which was putting out an amazing amount of light and made riding in the cool morning really nice. After about two laps I remembered that the light did not last very long on high and I had been riding about an hour. So at the start of the third lap I put the light on medium and decided that when the light started to get dimmer I would change it to low. Back at the trailer I had another light as a backup for when this one got too dim.
 
Lights out!
 
With about 3 miles left in the third lap the light goes out! Well, who knew lithium-ion lights did not gently dim but instead just very rudely snapped off while traveling 20 mph downhill leaving one in pitch black darkness?  
 
The view at dark-thirty doing 20 mph and no headlight - definitely pee in the pants time.
 
So, immediately I braked as hard as I prudently could, trying not to let the yellow stuff running down my leg cause the tire to skid...
 
Now I'm sitting in the total darkness wondering what to do...
 
Well I had put a small head lamp (for reading books at night while camping) into my jersey so that if I had a flat tire I would have at least some light to use for changing the tire. That's small head-lamp, not small-head lamp, although at the time I'm pretty sure it was small-head time. The head-lamp band would not fit under my helmet unless I crammed it so far down on my head that the round light dome was almost right between my eyes.
 
I found that if I looked almost straight down, the light was good enough so that, I could see the double yellow line in the middle of the road. I started riding real slow straddling the double yellow.  
 
I was doing good until the first (of three) water crossings. All of a sudden big downhill, bike speeds up, double yellow line disappears! I knew this would happen from the first three loops - but I must admit it actually has a much bigger impact on one's self awareness at that particular moment. The low water crossings have 90 degree bends entering and leaving the low water crossing. No guard rails - just sail off a three foot drop onto rocks and water. Again, panic stop, by now I'm getting really good at the quick stops. Walk across the water crossing, up the hill on the other side until the double yellow line starts again and then ride at 5 mph until the next crossing.  
 
After the third water crossing, I'm cruising along at 5 mph when a roadie passes me doing about 18 mph. He (she?) has a really bright front light! I speed up and stay about 20 yards behind the roadie using his front light as my front light all the way back to the starting area turn around point. I go and get my second light from the AirStream. Hmmm, maybe next time carry the backup with me?
 
Now I'm really worried about running out of battery with the second light. I've done about 27 miles already but I have another 4 hours of darkness left so I put the light on the lowest setting to make it last the longest time.
 
Now remember the route is an out an back. So every other rider in the race will be coming towards you at some point in the loop. Well the other riders have front light that mimic the SUN shining brightly.  Every time someone would be approaching me head on I could not see a thing because of their bright light, and mine being on low now, so I would have to slow down to a crawl so that I would not run off the road.
 
Yes, as it turns out, I brought a knife to a gun fight. Next time I'll have the brightest, longest lasting, burn your eyeball retinas, lights you can buy.
 
It takes a lot of concentration to stay on the road under these conditions. After about 52 miles (4 hours riding time) I could tell I was getting weary and I started to get concerned about getting into an accident so I decided around 4am to take an hour and a half break and nap until daylight around 5:30am.
 
Poor Nutrition
 
This next part is not my fault. My wife Robyn volunteered to make sandwiches for me to eat during the 12 hour ride. Nutrition is very important on ultra-distance rides. I gave her very specific instructions on the sandwiches: Wonder Bread (white bread, builds bodies 12 different ways), crunchy penut butter and blackberry jam. Well, she does not get Wonder Bread, she gets Iron Kids Bread. Iron Kids? The least she could have done was get Ironman Bread!  Iron Kids ??!!??
 
Due to lack of adequate nutrition, I overslept until about 7am. Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed. I wanted to ride at least one loop in the daytime using the video camera - which I'll post some video tomorrow. So I did one more loop making a total of 61.25 miles in an elapsed time of 7 hours and 40 minutes (counting the 3 hour nap).
 
Official Results

http://app.strava.com/activities/58100955
 
 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/322695922
 
Balance at night
Your vision is very involved in balancing your bike? With it being very dark, and a focused narrow headlight, I was initially wandering all over the road. I could not hold a straight line. I seems that my vision detects tilting before my ear balance canals do and because I did not have much peripheral vision on account of the darkness I would get very tilted over before sensing I needed a steering correction. This caused me to wander all over the road. I got better as time went on, but initially it was pretty strange.
 
Recumbents
Every recumbent entered finished in first place in category!  
 
Vicki Tyer - First place - 24 Hour Solo Recumbent Female 50+.
Dan Hansen - First place - 12 Hour Solo Recumbent Male 50+.
Gregory Goss - First place - 6 Hour Solo Recumbent Male 35-49.
 
I talked with Greg quite a bit before and after the race. Nice looking bikes - a Carbent and an M5. I think I remember actually riding some with Greg on his Carbent in last year's Burleson Honey Ride. Thanks Greg for all the advice! I did not get to talk with Vicki much, she was riding a Bacchetta CA2.0.
 
It is all mental
Greg's advice was that ultra-racing is all mental. For me the winning mental part was finding a race so hard for recumbents that I would be the only one to show up for my category.
 
Next year I'll be back to defend my title and hopefully break the course record I just set.  
 
However, if the competition gets tough, I probably ask the organizers for a new category: '12 Hours Solo Recumbent Male 50+ Small-front-wheel Red-frame'. (remembering the mental part)
 
Rest Stop Mile Marker 61

My favorite rest stop was mile marker 61.25 - just after I finished filming the video loop. The SAG support there was fantastic delivering fresh coffee to me relaxing in the camping chair. Thanks Robyn for the great experience!

Good job hanging in there Dan!
 
After I had my light go out on me in the Texas Time Trials, I heard a very loud sudden noise off of my bike.  It was only my shifter cable snapping, but it scared the Dickens out of me!
 
Now, I use the Schmidt hub and carry a backup light on the bike.
 
Sorry we didn't see your start - we were happily sleeping in the tent.  Congratulations on your first race.
Shellene

Dan,
 
If you're going to race the 12 hour at the TTTT, then you really should consider racing the Tonkawa 12 hour in Waco (http://www.tonkuc.com/)  That would give you the needed three races for the Texas Ultra Cup.  Like the TTTT it also starts at 6AM.
 
Shellene and I will be pre-riding the course next Saturday, and we'll post our impression of the course here.
 

Quote from dhansen on Jun 8^th, 2013, 2:42am:

 
Dan,
 
For Glen Rose your Nightrider should be fine, you'll only need the light for about an hour.  If you want to get a Schmidt hub anyway (always good to have), I recommend the folks at Texoma Bicycle Works (a bit of a haul from far north Austin, but they ship).  They built both Schmidts that Shellene and I use, and I think Vickie's as well.  The shop is owned/run by a couple of ultra-distance racers, so they understand our needs.
 

Normally I don’t drive 14 hours to do a 6 hour race, but my wife and I love seeing nature’s wonders, and so we loaded the car and headed to Palo Duro Canyon for the 24 Hours in the Canyon bike race.  I entered the 6 hour category.  The only other recumbents present were Dan Hansen, who chose the 12 hour race as his first ever ultra competition (and it started at Midnight - Dan has guts!), and Vickie Tyer raced the 24 hour as a last training ride before taking her CA2 to ride London-Edinburgh-London.  
 
We arrived in Amarillo friday night and were greeting by winds so fierce they pulled my back wheel loose from my Carbent.  We slept horribly at a badly run hotel and the next morning arrived inside the Canyon to watch the 24 hour start.  The 24 hour solo riders raced out of the park for the first time and had to climb the average 12% grade for what must be two solid miles.  Upon their return they would race the same 9 miles out and back and the rest of us would.  BTW, Vickie finished with 327 miles recording some 14k feet of climbing.  
 
We set up our tent and canopy next to Vickie’s mom, then headed out to sightsee, going to the CCC built museum and wandering around.  From then on it was burning in the sun but breezy and cool in the shade.  So I sat and chatted and helped out Chris Rodriguez, a Wounded Warrior, a little.  Saw a giant tarantula.  Sweated and froze all night in turns.  Didn’t get much sleep for the 2nd night in a row.  My alarm had been set for the wrong day and I woke up late but was able to make the 6am start forgetting my arm warmers.  Groggy as hell.
 
I started out very slowly and spun the pedals quicker as the throng evened out and I felt safe to pass in the dark.  Then I nearly turned off onto the mountain bike path as I was sleepy and the rider on my RIGHT decided to turn LEFT.  You climb gradually with a few dips and then one steep push brings you to a short but steep downhill.  Unfortunately at the bottom us a stop sign.  A series of rollers and flats, combined with low water crossings, leads you to one more steep uphill and one more screaming descent which, just like the other, has a sharp turn at the bottom keeping you from capitalizing on it.  
 
Now you’re halfway done with your first lap and it’s time to go in reverse!  It was a beautiful day in near perfect conditions with the warm sun and the cool breeze.  Apparently the deer I almost hit halfway back thought so too.  The wind would pick up throughout the day, making each lap that much harder, but who cares when the hills also seem to be getting steeper each time?
 
My M5 isn’t rigged for night riding so I started the course on the Carbent.  My plan had been to switch between the bikes every 2 laps in order to get a good comparison between the two, but my wife didn’t have the M5 CHR ready and so I sped on through 4 laps.  My average speed those first 4 laps was a 17.8, pretty good for 1 lap in the dark and throwing in the hills.  But my mouse bladder caused me to have to get off the bike every lap - I had run out of external catheters unfortunately and didn’t know it.
 
I felt beat and worn out already from the exertion and climbing when I got on the M5.  I thought about taking a long break since I was the only bent in the category and guaranteed a trophy, but I didn’t.  The wind was picking up quite a bit already as well.  I found out rather quickly that I couldn’t shift into the big ring - my hands were just too weak.  Average was 16.4 with the M5 for the 3 laps I rode it.  I’m only 63 miles in but tired and I’ve been coughing the whole morning and it’s affected my breathing and heart rate the whole day.  My lungs did not like the cool air after camping all night.  I actually did take a bit of a break then, to drink some root beer for the caffeine and switch bikes one last time.  
 
I also put on my helmet camera so that I could get a bit of video with the incredible scenery of Palo Duro Canyon.  Watching the sun rise from the bike was among my top cycling moments, equalled only perhaps by the sunrises I’ve seen during Race Across Oregon and the Hill Country 600.  This is a race worth doing just for the views.
 
After two more laps on the Carbent I hit the timing mat and see I only have 42 minutes left and I’m worried that I won’t make another full lap.  Those two laps were done in the mid 16s thanks to the caffeine but I was really feeling the stress of the hills and the cold in my lungs and knees.  I hit the gas and gave it all I had,  17.0 miles an hour and 11 minutes still left on the clock, but Not enough time to try to go out for a partial lap.  I would have, though!  
 
Reflecting back, I ran a great race.  I ended up being credited officially with 96.25 miles.  At Bessie’s Creek, I had done 105 miles.  But tired and coughing, and with 3500 feet more of climbing than Bessie’s Creek, I nearly equalled that feat.  I wasn’t dead at the end of the race, and I could still walk.  I didn’t spend any time off the bike that wasn’t necessary.  I see setady improvements as time goes on.  Looking forward to Hopefully doing the Tonkawa Ultra 6 hour in a few weeks, and if I do, stepping up to the 12 hour for the Tejas 500.  Maybe even riding as  a team of 4 in the full 500.  Anyone game?
 
Link to a video of the 9th lap out of 11.  You'll see Vickie and I pass each other twice.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tYZUIyKFOU
 
Race Stats:
<iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/322153303'></iframe>
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/322153303
 
Pics from the End of the Race:
The Terrain

 
The Crew

 
The Carbent

 
The M5

 
First place trophy

 
 
 
 

A unicycle.  Our you could put wheels on the kayak.