National 24 Hour Challenge

June 16-17, 2007 I rode in the National 24 Hour Challenge in Middleville, MI. My wife, doing her part as crew, and I arrived in the afternoon of the 15th to set up base camp at the Grand Rapids Airport Hilton, a very nice hotel relatively close to Thornapple-Kellogg Middle School where the event is hosted. After checking in to the hotel, we drove over to pick up my rider packet and take a peek at the roads. I was really worried that the course was going to be very hilly and I would bonk well short of the 24-hour mark.

Number pickup was a breeze and we decided to go ahead an stake out a location to pitch our tent from which Mary would provide me overnight support. I thought there might be a lot of competition for camping space (there was not) and I wanted to save time on event day (which we did).

I always have trouble sleeping the night before a big ride, and this ride was no exception. The problem was exacerbated by some very loud neighbors in the hotel...a youth baseball team and their rowdy adult escorts. I managed a few hours sleep before getting up early to start the fueling/hydration process. Breakfast cookies for everyone! And a boiled egg, bananas, coffee, and water. That would be all the "real food" I would eat until about 8 pm.

So we got me safely to the start (this often seems the hardest part of every ride) and I was ready to ride. The pre-ride festivities begin with bagpipers marching through the grounds, followed by the national anthem for each country represented, a little pep talk from the organizers, and finally the start.

It was going to get hot...maybe in the nineties, so we had a cooling strategy for the day. First, I was wearing my "cooling scarf" which contains some hydrophilic substance that would provide some evaporative cooling during the ride. Next, Mary had a pitcher of icy water and a towel at each checkpoint, and finally, we had a little personal mister filled with cold water. Using all of these, I survived the heat very well, unlike several of my fellow riders.

The course was not as hilly as I had feared, but actually suited my abilities very well. At the 100 mile mark I was matching my personal best pace for the distance. I completed the first loop which was several mile short of the advertised distance because of the