12hrs of Pine Log- Witches, and mtn bikers

This was my second team outing at the 12hrs of Pine Log. Early in the season I had thought about doing a 12/24hr race solo, but I had an epiphany along the way... I'm not interested in that kind of suffering. So, with no desire to do one of these things solo, I took up the offer to be on a team again. I was doing this event primarily for fun, but considering my teammates I knew we had a decent chance of winning.

The day was supposed to offer perfect weather. Clear skies and temps in the mid 70s is what was called for. Considering that meteorology is not a perfect science, it's not hard to imagine that the weather that was forecast, and the weather we got were two different things.
It was cloudy and windy for most of the day, so everyone was walking around in jackets, arm warmers, hats, you name it.
Cal was to be our lead off man, which suited me just fine as it meant I didn't have to do any of that running sh*t. Cal got to his bike around 8th or 9th and took off into the woods. Since I was second I didn't have long to get warmed up and ready for the hand off. With the weather conditions, getting warmed up took on a whole new meaning.

The course was almost 7 miles long, 6.7 miles to be exact. There's nothing much in the way of challenging terrain at Pine Log, but what it lacks in technical riding, it makes up for in speed. It is a hella fast course.

Cal, being the superhuman freak that he is, was the first rider out of the woods.
We tag and I take off. Our plan was to throttle it during the daylight hours, so then we could afford to ease up a bit during the night laps. The biggest challenge for me on that first lap was keeping focused because I was having trouble staying warm...I was trembling at times. That first lap I didn't see anyone until the last mile or so. I came across the line with a lap time around 27:39. I averaged what I thought was a blistering pace of 14.3mph, that is until Cal's next lap...

Cal, heading out on one of many laps

Cal was turning out consistent sub-26 minute laps! The rest of us were pretty close...28 minute or less lap times. By mid afternoon we had almost 20 minutes on the second place team, and to add to that the sun finally came out. The best time of the day for the second place team was 28 minutes, so with each rotation we were putting time into them.

Surly Pugsly, courtesy of Big Daddy Bike Shop

The sun is out!

As the sun goes down, the real suffering begins. We're all getting tired, and with the temperature dropping it's a real challenge to stay warm in between laps.

Base camp

Now, what would a race that takes place on the weekend before Halloween be without some creepy goings on?
As the sun set we started noticing people wearing some odd attire. Most were wearing robes or capes (not Superman,but Dracula style capes). I saw one dude dressed like a pirate, and he was standing by the restrooms singing "what do you do with a drunken pirate". It was at that point that I chalked it up to some people enjoying Halloween a little too much. I came in from my first night lap and sat down, only to take notice of drums beating. Now, I'm not talking about someone jamming on a drum set, I'm talking about a "natives are restless, ceremonial drumbeat" kind of drum sound. I ask if I'm the only one that hears it, and I am informed that on the other side of the trees they have a big ole campfire going, and they are dancing around it, chanting. Hmmm. Cal jokes that it's a bunch of witches and that they're going to sacrifice a mtn biker. Up until Cal's remark, I had chalked this up to a bunch of people REALLY getting into Halloween. Earlier in the day I had parked in the group camping area (thats where we were going to setup our base camp), and I took notice of a bumper sticker on one of the cars. It read, and I quote "Get a taste of religion- Lick a witch". There were also a couple of "Goddess" type of stickers on the car as well.

Chilly night laps...brrrr

Later we were also told that they had a seance over there. Someone also overheard them announce "that all the kids participating in the children's ritual should come on over, as it is about to begin". Were they just having one hell of a Halloween bash, or something more? I have no idea. All I do no is, those damn drums were still going when I left to go home at 11pm. Allow me to add how that particular situation played with one's head while out on the trail all alone in the middle of the night.

Let's get back to racing...
By sunset we had lapped the second place team. Thank God I only had to do one full night lap. I came in at 8:30 and Rachel went out with a mission to make Cal do another lap. Both Rachel and Philip busted their asses to get back in time.
(Note: the rules for this race said that you could only go out for another lap if you had time to complete a lap before the 12hrs was up, and if you came in after 10pm your last lap did not count).
Philip comes in at 9:29 and Cal is forced to go out again. Cal came across the line with like 1 minute left to go.
Our final tally was 25 laps completed. 3 of us did 6 laps, and Cal did 7. Our prize for 1st place was $500, which didn't hurt my feelings any. We also set a course record. In the 5 years that the race has been taking place, no team has ever done 25 laps.

I really enjoyed the racing, but even more importantly I enjoyed the time with friends.

Will we do it again next year? Possibly. Maybe we'll shoot for 26 laps.