The 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, 2020 solo edition

The morning of the race. You can pretty much feel the heart of the 24 hour town beating in anticipation.

Antonio on his first lap, being offered some liquid ‘‘courage’’ at the Whiskey Tree.

A rider stops for a shot at the Whiskey Tree, mayhem ensued!

Whiskey Tree shenanigans!

Jason hitting the rock drop on his first lap.

Antonio coming into Solo Alley on his second lap.

Stopping at our support tent for snacks, bottle refills and cheers!

Pascale preparing some warm food for the racers. After more than 6 hours of racing, they need something more than gels and energy balls to keep going.

Rafael waiting for his daddy to come back from his 4th lap.

Antonio’s golden hour lap.

Antonio trying to change his shoes without sitting down. His original plan was to not sit down at all during the race (for fear of not getting up).

The plan changed and he sat down at every lap (which ended up working really well). Here, Rafael offers him some food.

It was so awesome to have the boys there to cheer and help!

Unexpected things you might do as a support team: taking off your racer’s contact lenses for him since his hands are dirty.

I don’t have night photos and that is the part that has to be experienced to fully feel such an event, but there were lots of warm soup, coffee and quesadillas, and an impromptu dance party to keep the spirits up and the bodies warm. That was right after sunrise.

Jason coming back from his sunrise lap.

Pascale’s love, presence and management skills were instrumental to Antonio’s success.

Most of the crew at the tent on Solo Alley.

Regrouping, eating and drinking before leaving for a 13th lap.

Hop on!

Go, go, go!!

Jason back from his 15th lap and removing some layers as the sun warms up.

Still smiling!

Tire repair with the Liske boys, Formula 1 pit stop style!

Done and dusted!! 14 laps!! That’s 230 miles (370 km) in 24 hours. A well-deserved 3rd place (over 25 solo men single speeders!).

The smile that says it all!

Jason completing his final and 17th lap (that’s 280 miles or 450 km) for a 1st place!!!

He barely had time to hop off (or more like crawl off) his bike and jump on the podium!

You can see it all in that smile: pride, fatigue and relief!

Jason was even barefoot on the podium!

Antonio congratulating his friend Kelly (who took 5th place).

That’s Jason’s where-are-my-dry-clothes-and-my-bed’s face. Pure exhaustion.

Hanging out at camp after the podiums. So happy to celebrate that incredible achievement with our friends!

The girls spent a lot of time playing with the boys and going from the Whiskey Tree to the Rock Drop to keep our racers’ spirits up!

The 24 Hour Town is almost empty by sunset on Sunday night.

Rafael embodying here what this event is truly about: a strong mind in a strong body, a zen attitude and a desire to always push yourself to go higher!

Even if 24 hour mountain bike race events have been losing in popularity in the last 10 years, The 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo’s registrations filled up in 55 minutes this year. It might be because this event carries a sense community and inclusivity for riders of all levels that you don’t always find at bike races that it is still so popular after 20 years of existence.

I’ve written about this cool race before here and here, but this year was different: both our dear friends Antonio and Jason were racing it solo on single speed bikes (they had raced it in 4-men teams before - many times for Antonio and twice for Jason). This year, we were their support team for the event. Solo riders are allowed to have a tent on the very last section of the course, aptly named Solo Alley, so this is where we set up camp. It is a great vantage point to see and hear what happens at the Rock Drop, where many people gather to heckle and cheer.

Doing (and supporting) a solo rider for 24 hours was a first experience for all of us, so a lot of it was learn-as-we-go. We were definitely not the well-oiled machine of pro solo rider Taylor Lideen set up nearby, but between all of us, we did a pretty good job!

As I sat down by the fire on Sunday night, still buzzing with the adrenaline of the last 24 hours, I heard campers making up lyrics for a song: My palms are sweaty, my arms are spaghetti… Tighten your headset, loosen your mindset for the 24 Hours of old Pueblo!

To get more of a feel of the place and the event, watch this few minutes video by Lance Armstrong that he did in 2018 when he raced it.

The Hammerfest race and a visit from Grand-Père

The Hammerfest race was a really fun event. The course was long for the expert, but Mara had a great race, finishing 2nd in the U19 field. Aïsha is still struggling with some back issues and a vertebrae pinched during her warm up, forcing her to stop the race after one lap since she has lost sensations in both her legs.

Mathilde had a great race and placed first in her field!

My dad took the train across Canada and came to spend a week in Victoria.

He taught me to shuck oysters.

My dad and I took a road trip to Port Renfrew. We stopped at French Beach Provincial Park along the way.

There is so much to explore on the Island and we will not see it all in the month or so we are here. I’m glad I got to see a part of it with my dad while he was here with us!

First week in Victoria, BC, and the Hartland Island Cup

Pre-riding the Hartland Island Cup course. Quite a change from the AZ courses!

Checking out the lines.

Practice, practice, practice!

There is still snow on the ground. It’s very unusual in Victoria!

The view from our beautiful campground - Pedder Bay RV Resort and Marina.

Look at that water!

The girls were pretty excited and nervous to race the first Island Cup of the season (it’s their first time here). Mara had a great start and was keeping up with the strong girls until she got a flat, Aisha’s and Mathilde’s timing chips got mixed up, so they didn’t have their results, which wasn’t acknowledge before podiums (Aïsha was waiting for her turn on the podium and someone else got called because of the mixed results, even if she really was third…). They all acted with such maturity and positive attitudes, it was very heartwarming to see. Mathilde said she had her worst race ever (they rode a lot this week and their legs were shut), but that she had fun and was proud of herself. All in all, a success! And this community is simply amazing.

Mathilde and I when on a paddling date. It was so beautiful, seals were playing hide and seek around our kayak, a trumpeter swan landed beside us and a bald eagle took flight nearby. We could even see the snowy peaks of Olympic National Park in the US in front of us.

JF and are celebrating our 20th anniversary (well, as you know, we’re not married, but that’s 20 years from our official dating date) and it is my birthday in a few weeks as well, so he treated us to a guided tasting flight in the cellar of Bear Mountain Resort. Every Friday, there is a different theme and this week was Italy. How perfect! The sommelier led our group down to this incredible room with a huge table covered with canapés prepared with local cheeses and charcuteries, and guided us through a tasting of 8 different wines. When they brought out the lobster cakes, I looked at JF with big round eyes and asked: How much was this thing? He said: well it said from 40$ per person… So we laughed imagining cameras looking down on us to see how much food we ate from the decadent spread and charging accordingly! It turned out to be just a little over that and I kept bugging him that it was because he went for the prosciutto 3 times!
It was so fun to be with him in such a different setting. It really felt like we had traded life with another couple for an evening, in a weird but cool way.