Adam C. Hegedus

Ouch.

That about sums up my first look at the Big Bear race course for the upcoming 24 Hours of Big Bear. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m riding in this race with my team, the Mudbuckets. As the title of this post shows, my time was not so stellar! I don’t think I was prepared for how technical the course was (Please note that I am by no means a pro rider, so what I thought was technical, other rider think is easy!). Anyway, I found it to be a fun but challenging course. I was able to ride it with Co-worker, teammate and MudBuckets team moral captain Rick Spangler who is no slouch when it comes to the bike (the show-off finished in 1:20 and thinks he can do better). We were out on business in Virginia and decided to make a slight(!) detour to check out the course. And a good time was had by all!

We started out looking for the course around 3pm, but we found out that it wasn’t marked too well because there was another race this Sunday. But we stumbled on the owner of the campground (well, I stumbled, Rick gracefully found him) who pointed us in the right direction. We found our way to the starting line where a big steel structure was suspended over the road. This is the ending of the course where riders will all go up and over. Looked like fun, but I figured I’d wait until I conquered the course to try it out.

The Course

So we started out, and it didn’t take long to figure out that there is a predominant feature to this course… rocks. Lots, and lots of rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, loose rocks and rocks that couldn’t be moved with a truck. They seemed to come out of nowhere sometimes, but for the most part they were easily navigable. I constantly had to stay alert because the last thing I wanted was to end up on my face… on a rock. That would suck.

The course winded all over the beautiful creation that it is set on, with some quick climbs and some not so quick ones, some quick drops and two big decents that are fast, a little steep and rocky (of course). I have a feeling that during the race people will be screaming down that section, but as for me, I’ll be working the brakes carefully! After the big decent, you’re about half way, and then the course gets a little tougher. More climbing, a few logs and bigger rocks. There were two rock gardens that took one look at and dismounted. I figured my feet could get me over that quicker, no shame in that, right?!?

The end is mostly up hill except for the last mile, but by that time I was pretty beat up. The last climbs had me riding the granny gear pretty hard. I kept thinking that I was done because I was paying too much attention to my watch and my memory of the course map and profile. But alas, the hill kept coming at me and my spirits where running away. When I finally came out of the woods and that steel bridge was in my sights, I was so excited that I turned on the juice and flew up the ramp. It was then that I realized that I had juice left to give, I just needed to stay positive. There was a lesson to learn here…

The Lesson

Forget the map and ride. That’s what I’ll need to do. Just enjoy the terrain and ride my own race. I’m not looking to win, I’m hoping to survive and ride a few laps. I think I can knock a few minutes off my time before the race day, I’d like to be around 1:35 or so. It was muddy and cool, so if conditions are better I think I can do it. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Well I’ve gone and done it. A few months ago, I suggested to a few guys in my office that we do something a little crazy. Allow me to go back in time a bit… You see, a couple of years ago a bunch of us got into mountain biking. We ride a few times a week at various locations around State College, PA, where if you are a mountain biker, you can find just about anything you are looking for. As it turns out I’m now hooked on it. I love getting out in the woods and getting some much needed exercise. So anyway, fast forward to this past winter. I was looking around at some mountain bike web sites and I stumbled on a link to Granny Gear. GG is a company that hosts 24 hour mountain bike races all over the country… I think you can see where I’m going with this… We’ll I’m not a really competitive person when it comes to athletic events, but I thought this would be a really great idea. It’s motivating, great exercise and would really challenge me a lot. So I brought it up with a few people and the next thing you know, we’re signed up.

So this June 10th, I’ll be riding my bike… a lot. The format is really exciting. A 12 mile loop which our team of four will race as a relay for 24 hours. I’m not looking to win anything, I’m more interested in finishing… call it ‘my everest’. I never really knew why people would climb that mountain, and I’m not terribly sure why I’m riding this race, but I know that I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me with the ability just to get out and ride, and I’m going to take advantage of it!

One more thing…

To make things a little more interesting and motivating, our team has chosen to ride for the American Lung Association. When we saw that this was an option, I was all for it. If we’re going to go out there and bust our butts on the mountain, why not raise a little money for a great cause in the process? So that brings me to my next item of business… I’m raising money. You can help! I’m looking to raise money for the ALA which will allow me to race in this crazy event. If you’re interested in helping me out, you can go to this link. From there you can contribute to my quest… my everest. I might be crazy, but I’m super excited about it!