Seven Springs brings…
Originally posted on October 7, 2007 at 6:10 am…pain. There is pleasure in pain, right? I must be a masochist at heart because bringing pain to myself seems to be my style. Anyone who is willing to ride their bicycle for 24 hours solo seems to fall into that category, and I am one of many.
There is a day that we label as “Labor Day†and it is supposed to be a day off in celebration of all the hard work that we do. In my eyes there needs to be a day that is called “Labor Day†that would be a day where we all work as hard as we possibly can. Well, that will probably never happen so I took it upon myself to make my own day of labor. And on this weekend that we call “Labor Day weekend†I went out and did some physical labor on my mountain bike at Seven Springs Resort in PA. This was the weekend of the 24-hour race and thanks to Lupine I had my name in one of the solo women’s slots. Last race of the season and I was excited.
Last year was my first 24-hour solo race at Seven Springs. I have a good friend Karl who has also done a fair share of 24-hour races. He knows the ropes and liked my idea of doing it solo and volunteered himself to be my support, hence the word friend. We cruised up to the race and ended up not having the best conditions due to a little thing that we call a hurricane. It hit the night before the race and it turned into a mud fest. I had fun, did well and was just getting started with my solo-racing career. So I just hoped that 2007 was going to be a little dryer then 2006, and yes it was. As a matter of fact the conditions could not have been better. The weather was dry and cool, perfect. They change the course every year to keep it interesting and that is always appreciated.
Friday started out with Karl and I cruising up to set up camp. We got prime placement right on the course. We reserved a few spots because my friends and folks were on the way up. Chris, Larry, my mom and Glenn were going to join Karl and I for the weekend. That is a fine group of people to keep the smiles coming. The registration opened and I went up to find out that I had four ladies joining me in the solo category. So now it was excitement mixed with nerves for a good sensation. Evening hours rolled in and so did the stars. We had some stars and fireworks to complete the evening and it was time to catch some z’s before the race.
Saturday finally made it and it was time to fuel up. In addition to the cross-country event this year they were running the lift so that people could ride the newly-built jumps. That was a nice addition that Chris, Larry and many other people were going to take advantage of. Everything was up and running and at noon the gun was fired. It started with a nice long run around the lake on the hunt for our bikes. Sure enough there they were in the racks, right where we left them. Off we went and for the next 24 hours I was going to be pedaling my bike. That is the plan. Thanks to my support and music everything worked out smoothly. Like I always say and it is so true, I couldn’t do it without them. Every lap was pretty consistent and I just kept on cruising. My competition didn’t have that many roadblocks either which kept the event interesting.
Sunday I managed to jump into second place for a moment but that did not last. With ten laps I ended up taking third. Not too shabby. Second place had 11 laps and first place had 12. Strong women. My dad came on Sunday as well with a grill, some brats and fruit. That was just what I needed. It was a great event thanks to Hoss, Dirt Rag, Lupine, Thick and my parents.
There is a day that we label as “Labor Day†and it is supposed to be a day off in celebration of all the hard work that we do. In my eyes there needs to be a day that is called “Labor Day†that would be a day where we all work as hard as we possibly can. Well, that will probably never happen so I took it upon myself to make my own day of labor. And on this weekend that we call “Labor Day weekend†I went out and did some physical labor on my mountain bike at Seven Springs Resort in PA. This was the weekend of the 24-hour race and thanks to Lupine I had my name in one of the solo women’s slots. Last race of the season and I was excited.
Last year was my first 24-hour solo race at Seven Springs. I have a good friend Karl who has also done a fair share of 24-hour races. He knows the ropes and liked my idea of doing it solo and volunteered himself to be my support, hence the word friend. We cruised up to the race and ended up not having the best conditions due to a little thing that we call a hurricane. It hit the night before the race and it turned into a mud fest. I had fun, did well and was just getting started with my solo-racing career. So I just hoped that 2007 was going to be a little dryer then 2006, and yes it was. As a matter of fact the conditions could not have been better. The weather was dry and cool, perfect. They change the course every year to keep it interesting and that is always appreciated.
Friday started out with Karl and I cruising up to set up camp. We got prime placement right on the course. We reserved a few spots because my friends and folks were on the way up. Chris, Larry, my mom and Glenn were going to join Karl and I for the weekend. That is a fine group of people to keep the smiles coming. The registration opened and I went up to find out that I had four ladies joining me in the solo category. So now it was excitement mixed with nerves for a good sensation. Evening hours rolled in and so did the stars. We had some stars and fireworks to complete the evening and it was time to catch some z’s before the race.
Saturday finally made it and it was time to fuel up. In addition to the cross-country event this year they were running the lift so that people could ride the newly-built jumps. That was a nice addition that Chris, Larry and many other people were going to take advantage of. Everything was up and running and at noon the gun was fired. It started with a nice long run around the lake on the hunt for our bikes. Sure enough there they were in the racks, right where we left them. Off we went and for the next 24 hours I was going to be pedaling my bike. That is the plan. Thanks to my support and music everything worked out smoothly. Like I always say and it is so true, I couldn’t do it without them. Every lap was pretty consistent and I just kept on cruising. My competition didn’t have that many roadblocks either which kept the event interesting.
Sunday I managed to jump into second place for a moment but that did not last. With ten laps I ended up taking third. Not too shabby. Second place had 11 laps and first place had 12. Strong women. My dad came on Sunday as well with a grill, some brats and fruit. That was just what I needed. It was a great event thanks to Hoss, Dirt Rag, Lupine, Thick and my parents.
