24 Hours of Moab.....Not good.

It is funny how things can change so fast. I got up the morning of the race good-to-go. I felt fresh, I had a awesome breakfast, and my routine was normal. I got to the race and set up, and drank tons of water due to the forcasted high temps (80 degrees). Everything was on schedule. I checked in and placed my bike on the rack for the lemonds run. I went to grab my H2O bottle, and snap, my cage broke. Damn! I got back on the bike and went back to my pit and grabbed the second one off my Gaint XTC. I was sweating it a bit, but had 45 mins. to fix it.

The run started with the normal dust cloud that everyone talked about. I was about mid-pack off to the side to stay clear of the dust. I finished the run and got to my bike for the start down the jeep road that we drove into the venue on. It was fun and fast. My legs felt awesome. I was like the 9 Solo rider out of 50 or so to hit the single track. I went through my first lap keeping a decent pace trying to gap the solo riders behind me and keep in touch with Cameron, Nat, Ect. up in front of me. I made sure to drink lots, sipping from my PolarPak and bottle filled with Hammer.

At the end of the first lap I came in and pull to my pit area and I come to see that the wind had tossed my pit area tent across the solo pit area. So, my pit area was in shambles and my Dad was scrambling to get my stuff together. I got my stuff an headed out for the 2nd lap. About half way through the lap I started to get this nasty headache and my body started to ache. I had flu-like symptoms, minus the vomiting. I continued to soldier on, but it just got worse. I couldnt eat or drink. I also had no power. One thing is for sure......if you don't have any power on this course you are screwed do to the fact you have to hop over rocks and power through sand. I finished my 2nd lap in 7th place. I got back to the pit and took some pain killers, and the normal Hammer products. I headed out for lap 3 which would be my final lap :-(

Lap 3 started slow. I just couldn't get going. I felt like I was fighting the bike. My headache was getting worse, and i could NOT take on any food or liquid. I was doing like 4 mph on flat sections that were big ring sections the first 2 laps. My legs started to ache, and my body was starting to sieze up. I pulled over to stretch out a bit and collect my thoughts, but it just didn't work. I rode back to the pit area and sat for a bit. As I sat there, things just got worse and worse. I sat around for about 1.5 hours before I did the hardest thing to do in a 24 hour race, and that is call it. I figured my health was more important.

Right now as I type this I feel like I might be coming down with the flu of something. My body aches, and things just don't feel right. It sucks that this race didn't work out. I felt good to go, and my prep leading up to it was on schedule. The worst part is that I let my sponsors and supporters down with all the time, money, and travel invested in the trip.

Now it's time to gather my thought and think about next year and what is to come. I need to get back to this course! I feel I can do well. It has that kind of Midwestern flow to it with not along of climbing, so i feel that I can do some dammage on the field.

I am going to go and rest up a bit and try to get my body back to normal before sitting in the car for the next day on my way back to Iowa.

Out.

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:23 AM :: ::