12 hours of what?

Good times.

That's pretty much went down this past weekend. When I got back from Maui a couple of guys I have raced and trained with, Luke and Eric, asked to be part of their 3 man team at the 12 Hours of Temecula. Of course I accepted. I figured being part of a 3 man team would be pretty fun and good learning experience because of the some of the events I have lined up for next year.

The course. Roughly a 10 mile loop with 1400+ ft of climbing.


Going into the weekend I had been on my mountain bike 2 or 3 times since worlds and two of those were just spinning around my local trails in the dark trying out my new light. Riding at night is killer, kind of sketchy, and it going to take a lot more practice if I am going to go fast.


We showed up nice and early Saturday morning and it was cold. I actually like the cold... as long as I don't have to swim in it. We got checked and gave them our team, Blood, Sweat, and Beers. Our lineup was Luke, Eric and then me third. I was the only one that hadn't had a chance to pre-ride and I didn't want to slow us down.

The race was hard... really hard. Lap times were just under and hour for the 10 mile loop and then you had to sit around for 90 minutes until it was to to loosen up to get back out there. We had a pretty good day we got in 11 laps (luke 4, eric 4, me 3). I got away with just doing 3 because there wasn't time for another lap and I was stoked because I was pretty shelled and reach to crack open a beer. With 11 laps we took second place to some pro guys that knocked out an amazing 15 laps in 12 hours.


My Lap Data:
Lap 1



lap 2



Lap 3



After the race it was time to knock back some beers, grill some steak, and just relax around the camp fire. It was a killer time. The more mountain bike racing I do the more stoked on it I get. There is another 12 hour race in January and I think I am going to charge that on a 2 man team.