12 Hours of Temecula, June 2011

The June 12-Hours of Temecula had a lot to live up to. January's course was a fun, fast, roller coaster course; the weather was good; and Team Sherpa Dog had a great day. Personally, I had one of those special days where things just click - I did 8 laps, including 2 sets of double laps, and felt mentally and physically strong all day. I had done a lot of training since then, and so hoped for big things.

The parade lap seemed longer than usual, but the field was larger too. Riding in a pack with a bunch of mountain bikers is terrifying, but getting stuck behind slower riders is a lousy way to start. By the time we turned onto the course, I had a decent position in the top 20-30 riders. At that point I tried to settle in and ride my own pace, rather than race the really fast guys or the lead off riders on 4 man teams. I redlined it more than was smart, but did a decent first lap without hurting myself for later in the day.

While Mike was out, I caught my breath in our sweet double wide (actually, double deep) canopy pit stop. Fellow Rodder Racers Scott and Matt were riding solo (12 and 6 hr versions, respectively), while Milin was also racing on a 2 man team (Team Pegasus). Diana was running the pit, sporting her new Super D tee shirt. Milin left on his second lap, and I followed a few minutes later, wondering if I could catch up with him. It turned out that this would not be a problem...

Race director Jason Ranoa had laid out a short, fun course with two extended climbs and lot of twisty singletrack. About 10 minutes of riding brought me to the first climb, Bridges, which features a few winding switchbacks followed by a few steep ridgeline ups. The total climb is about 250 ft. Next, I descended Tarantula, a bunch of blown out switchbacks filled with deep sand. I was ugly on this all day. Eventually, I abandoned my pride and ran the worst sections, which was probably faster and definitely safer than if I'd ridden it. Tarantula feeds into the top of Tunnel of Love, a swoopy, rolly downhill section that can make you smile even after 6 laps.

Still no sign of Milin, but I thought I might pull him back on the next section, another 250 ft climb, this time on steady fireroad. This climb was about the halfway point of the lap, and took me about 6-7 minutes all day. I reached the top and made the hairpin turn onto Marlin Ridge. If you've never ridden at Vail Lake, the best way to picture the ridgeline descents is to imagine a roller coaster laid out on the top of a narrow ridge. The ground falls away steeply to either side of you, while the trail drops steeply, turns, back up, down, turn, up, turn, down, and so on. My gps recorded speeds of 20-25mph, but I suspect it was faster for brief periods. Some of the downhill sections are steep and rocky. It was on just such a section that I came on someone tending to a rider who had crashed. As I went past, I saw that the downed rider was wearing a Rodder kit. Milin! It took a second to process all this and I was 30 yards down the trail before I could stop. Milin was lying parallel to the trail, feet uphill. It was obviously serious or he would have been up already. I had done wilderness first aid training about 18 months ago, but he seemed stable so it wasn't clear what to do besides keep him comfortable, make sure nobody ran him over, and wait for help. Other riders had already carried the word down to the aid station. I told the two riders who had initially helped to keep riding. Milin was clearly in a lot of pain. As he described it, his brakes failed, he hit a choppy section at high speed, went over the bars, and landed on rocks hard on his right side. Based on the pain he was describing, I was worried he might have a fractured hip or pelvis.

I told Milin some stupid stories to distract him while we waited for help. For instance, did he know that, for reasons that were now self evident, the fireroad climb just before this descent was called "Ambulance"? The first help was a couple of guys from the aid station. I asked if they had any training... like first aid training? Nope. Then get on the radio and get someone up here with a board. I was pretty sure we were going to be locking Milin down and carting him out. By this time, Matt had come on us and stopped to warn riders to slow down. Scott came through a little later, but there wasn't anything for him to do, and we told him to ride on and pass the word to Mike and Diana in the pit, who were probably worried and confused. An EMT showed up a little later with a proper back board. About that time, a rider stopped, said he was an EMT as well, and offered to help. This guy was from team Cytomax/KHS, I think he was a Navy guy, he was awesome, and I/we really appreciate his help. Anyway, the EMTs did an assessment, we taped Milin down to the board, and drove him out on the back of a quad. An ambulance met us down in the campground. Cale, Milin's teammate, went with Milin to the hospital.

After conferring with Jason, I rode back up and resumed the course at the bottom of Marlin - just about where I had left off. A single track climb, twisty descent, a few side canyons and bmx tracks, and I was back to the pit area. I was out for about 1:50. After conferring with Jason, he decided to leave the time as it was, but give us credit for an additional lap. That seemed much better than the alternative of giving us a time equal to my first lap time, but only one lap, which would basically have meant we missed an hour of racing - which we almost certainly could have used to do another lap. All in all, I was happy with the way Jason handled it. Most importantly, I was glad he had plans and people in place to deal with a serious injury. I was also glad I was be there with Milin while we waited for help. I've had a few bad crashes, and it means a lot to have folks look out for you.

The rest of the day went by fast. After my extended 2nd lap, Mike and I swapped laps and my 3rd and 4th went well. I did scrub a little extra speed at the site of Milin's crash, but overall I was riding with confidence and good energy. A few adjustments to my fork and riding position in the week before had really helped with the bike handling.

I did a double on my 5th and 6th laps, riding the first just a little more conservatively and just slowing a few minutes on the second one. I had a Red Bull rally in the pit and was ready for the last lap of day. Team Sherpa Dog was currently running in 4th position. Waiting in the exchange area, I saw Kyle, a CSUSM student on a two man team that was in 5th. Kyle is super fast, and had passed me on our previous laps. His partner was a good bit slower, but I knew he could make up 5 minutes on me. Mike came in, told me the third place team was just a few minutes ahead. Third! I was worried about holding fourth!

As with the entire 12 Hr event, the only thing to do is ride as fast as you can and not worry about everyone else. I had no idea how long Kyle was going to be waiting for his teammate - he could be starting 1 min behind me or 10. It also wouldn't do any good to catch the 3rd place rider on Bridges only to blow up on Ambulance. But I did ride knowing it was my last lap. Kyle never caught me, and though it was dusk fading into night, I put up a time within a min or two of my earlier laps.

It turned out that Team Sherpa Dog finished 5th in the two man category (Kyle's team did not beat us, but someone else vaulted up in the standings, or perhaps there was a correction to the earlier results). Scott did 11 laps for 4th in Expert Men Solo. Milin got discharged from the hospital with no broken bones or internal injuries. A mostly good day...