1st thing I wanna say is- NEVER AGAIN!! The only places I don't hurt are the ones that are still numb!

Full details will be talked about ad nauseum and you'll hear'em till your sick of'em, But thanks to KRuD for the spare bike (I only have one!) AG for spare lights, JB for coming up for the fun of it and for loaning me his left hand grip, Poofy for staying up for 30 hours to help me out with sustenance, and the Fixxer for being right where I needed him to be numerous times, but especially when it was time to change forks from my broken bike to the spare bike- even with that mechanical we still came in under 2 hours for that lap!!

Without all of the advice from Howie, Schaar, Forcmeister and others, I wouldn't have made it. I finished the 14th lap in plenty of time to go ride another, and I couldn't- I had nothin left. The last lap I walked every rock garden and I even had to walk two of the hills. Granny low and I couldn't make the friggin pedals go round anymore!! My joints are all swollen, my knees, elbows, wrists, shoulders, and hips ache, my left achilles squeeks when I move my foot, my lower back and neck burns when I try to stand up and you DON'T EVEN WANNA KNOW about, ahem, "down there".


As for the frame- my fellow nobbies, I've broken motorcycle frames, let alone aluminum 4lb bicycle frames. Many of us have broken bicycle frames and if there isn't a huge thread on MTBR about them breaking, it's probably breaking because I'm NOT a smooth rider. The aluminum ripped around the weld where the seat tube goes into the bottom bracket. Keep in mind that even with all the weight I've lost, I still weigh in at over 200lbs when I'm geared up.

While I wanted to do a 24 hour mostly just for the experience, I gotta say, It's not really my bag, and I don't expect to do another one. Riding slow for hours on end is too much like riding a road bike, nothing happens for hours at a time and I get bored. I'm more of a ride fast, hit trees, crash and break things kind of rider.This might explain why I'm always breaking stuff!!

It was a heck of an experience, but I'm glad it's over. I miss beer and group rides with my nobby headed friends!

Congratulations to all of the FORC teams I missed all of the comeraderie that being on a team has had in years past, it got pretty lonely being on the trail that long! Seeing you guys on the lap change overs and you all telling me how great I was doing helped me reach the 200 mile mark more than you know. Thank you all for being there!!