Afton 24hr re-cap

[Magic]

I would like to start out by thanking John Reents and Afton for letting us put on this great race. Next is all the people involved with getting this shin-dig off the ground. You all know who you are and I don't know everyone involved, but I thank you.

Now on to the racers. Thank you for coming out and racing the 24hr. We tried very hard to put out a course that all the racers would like. I think we did well on that end of it.

Now my take on the race. As some of you might know, I was one of a few people that tried to keep the course in check for the riders. With the early morning rain that fell on Friday, I thought I was going to be in for a long day-night-day thing. But all the hard work we put into this course starting from May until now all payed off when I seen how well the course was holding up. As the day went by on Friday, the course slowly came into it's own. And by Sat. the course was getting hard and fast.

I would like to thank all the riders that said "thanks" as they were out riding and I was working on the trails. It's great to hear those things as someone who put so much time into this course. I just wish Larry could have heard the same things. Larry was busy riding for Team LCR, but I gave him the feedback from the riders I heard from.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank all the people who helped work on the course over the summer to put on this shin-dig. A big thanks goes out to Larry (Tower). He put alot of time and thought into this course. It's a race he enjoys and enjoys it more now that he was a big factor in the course design and moving of dirt and logs. I couldn't ask for a better person to work with on the trails. And as I started this little ditty out, John Reents and Afton are tops in my book. They put on a great race and are just all around great people to work with.

I look forward to next year's race. Maybe I'll put down the Mattock's and ride the race next year. Who knows at this point. Thank you to everyone involved with this race. And hope to see ya all next year for another 24 Hours of Afton.:banana: :banana:

[Wolfchimp]

Much thanks to Troy and Larry and all the others who worked on the trails and to all the volunteers who helped make the race possible. It was definitely worth riding. Always nice talking with you Troy.

It was also very nice to actually meet some of the other people that post on the forums. Nice to put a face with a name!:D Can't wait for some big group rides.

Nice job to all the racers! I hope you had as much fun as I did and yes I was pretty worthless:zzz: on sunday. I didnt even want to get on my bike. Tuesday will be the day for that. Ha ha ha. The new SS will get its inaugural ride!

One last thing, for my teammates. Nice job team FACELESS! :crazy2:Great riding.

[Tower]

Like I've said before, we've only scratched the dirt surface on what Afton could become in support of MTBing...

When we kicked off the new trail construction I go back to a pointer by Steve Eberly, he said just keep at it, be persistent. You might be the only person there (which on many occasions I was), but be don't let that drag you down... I've found moving dirt around is almost as fun as riding on dirt...

That being said, this Fall I'd like to kick off some more new trail construction. I've got my ideas, but it's an open forum to make changes at Afton. The only prerequisite is if you've got some changes you'd like to impliment, you'd better be there to help make them happen... Armchair trail building get's nothing done... We all can sit back and critique any trail apart...

Even "Magic" can't make new trails just appear... He can fix them then disappear though... He also talks a serious amount of smack that I'm still waiting for him to back up (outsprint Chopper up Whistler-)...

So, if you like what you see at Afton come on out this Fall and give us a hand. If Afton is too far out of the way find another trail to help out on... Get involved if you'd like to see change...

A huge "thanks" to John Reents and the Afton Staff... Without their support it would have been way more difficult to complete. I understand the Pros of working on private land, I'm don't see any Cons at Afton...

Also a thanks to "Magic- The Game" for sticking this out even when it seemed or seems like we were outsiders looking in... A big thanks goes to Bill & Greg for your consistent help on the Thursday sessions... The Log pile is dialed in, and Taz even cleaned it with the 4-wheeler... Thanks to the Saturday Crew's too, many of you traveled way out of your way to help out at Afton... You guys proved kid's can get involved and have fun at it... Duncan and his mo-hawk rule!

Hey Magic- The Game,,, Did you hear what the Goat named the new sections leading to the log crossing? Taz agreed, now if we could only get someone to help us with a decent trail map...

This Fall more to come...

[homebrewbiker]

Maybe as a "carrot" you could offer up a season pass to those who show up for the first trail work session in the Spring. I think Hillside does that. I think that is a big deterrant to riding out there.

[Magic]

We already offer free trail passes for trail work. One day of work = 1 free pass to ride. And on Sat. work sessions, Afton springs for lunch. So the offers are already their and have been since we took over out at Afton.

[Magic]

One thing people forget is Afton has a great clubhouse to relax in with newly updated bathrooms. There is also food and drink in the clubhouse for riders. So the 7.00 dollars to ride is no big deal in my mind. What other trails offer this, none that I know of.

The reason people don't ride at Afton, is because it kick's your butt to ride it. For some reason the riders in this state would prefer to ride flat trails than get a great workout and see some great trails. Just my two cents.

[homebrewbiker]

I don't ride there because I live and work on the other side of town and I don't want to pay to ride.

Hillside offers a free Season pass for the first session of the year, not just a free one time pass. This would be a bigger incentive.

[seberly]

Let's all wake up we are all paying for our riding - just through our taxes. Our taxes are NOT paying for Afton Alps so it is a dream to think that one session would be worth a season pass. This is a private facility, Hillside is a city park (as far as I know) apples vs. oranges. As Troy and Larry know the Afton folks are about THE MOST generous you'll ever meet.

[Wolfchimp]

Hey guys, I thought this was a re-cap? Lets hear about some other Afton 24hr riding stories not get into an arguement about pay-to-ride.

I'd be curious to hear about some of the other riders' expereinces at the 24hr. I had a blast and will definitely do it again next year! Happy trails.:crazy2:

[transplant]

Thanks to EVERYONE who made this possible. What a great thing, hanging out with people who share the same interest, riding yourself silly (or sick) and just plain getting off your arse for fun. I'll be back next year, fo' sho'.

[funky-funky-chicken]

I had a great time!

We had six people (two women, 4 men) in our little group, all riding solo, 4 of us on singlespeeds. For Sara, having never ridden at Afton, it proved to be just too much. She was novice at best and I'm proud of her for even attempting it! Alex rode with gears and I believe finished second in solo women. The rest of us, well, none of us took things too seriously... We only judge our performance by some weird ratio of beers consumed to laps completed.

The ice cold beers tasted just sooo good setting up "camp" on that soggy Friday morning. I started the "race" with my 7th beer in hand and there were more consumed during the night and for breakfast.

For me, it's a lot more fun riding solo since we have the opportunity to ride together. There were lots of entertaining times spent hiking and biking. (Lots of hiking!) Dan and I met Mike walking his bike down Man-Handler in the middle of the night because his lights had died. We stopped him and told him that we would get him around the lap, walking if we had to, but we helped him finish his lap. I rode in front of him and Dan rode behind him until we were able to get him across the finish line!

I liked the different options on the course for expert and easier. I only rode the "easy" option one time each. The expert sections were a lot more interesting. I only skipped the log crossing one time out of 13 laps for the aforementioned escort to the end for Mike in the dark.

There are some great bits of trail at Afton. Unfortunately, the good bits of trail are often joined together by a network of off-camber grass "trails" or brake-bump strewn "singletrack." The new in-slope turn after the bridge loop was super fun and had a great line. The "concrete" burm had somewhat of an awkward line to it seeming to taper too low at the end when you really want it there to kick you out of the end. Much of the new singletrack seemed a bit fresh and soft. I guess it keeps things interesting for the full 24 Hours of Afton.

[mcarples]

I'm curious about everyone's mishaps. I want to hear everyone's stories of the laps that didn't go well.

My personal story involves a 4AM lap, two flat tires, and a broken light (which meant having to ride back to camp, get a new light, and then re-enter the lap). To say I was unhappy at the end of that lap is understatement.

[TB0NE]

The race was a great experience. I really didn't think I would be putting in 6 laps, but thanks to my partners riding so fast I had to. I fell pretty good my last lap, landed on my head and then on my shoulder. It's still pretty sore today, and it's all their fault. One day I will make it back on my bike, but I hope my teamates (Team Faceless) feel guilty for putting in 51 minute laps! :mad::mad: :mad:


All in all I might have complained a little during the race, but it was a great time and I am sure I will be doing it again next year........why, I'm not sure.

[ostertoaster85]

Strangely enough, it was the sunrise lap that really hurt for me. I started to really feel the sleep deprivation (I rode straight through without sleeping.) On one of the climbs, I dropped my chain and was to tired to clip out, so I just keeled over. Then, I was too tired to get up, so I went to sleep on the side of the trail. I think I slept for about 30 seconds before another rider came along and asked if I was ok. Then I kept riding.

Later in the lap, I hooked my handlebar on a tree and went flying. It was kind of a funny thought process. "Oh crap, I'm flying over the handlebars." "Oh crap, I'm lying in the middle of the trail." "Hey, this is kind of comfortable. I should take a nap here." Then I realized that it would be a bad idea so I got up and kept riding.

Strangly, I never really felt the sleep deprivation after that lap. But that was one lap from hell.

[Tower]

So, did you guys go for the technical line or the alternate line when your exausted?

Curious because we received a little pre-race feedback that some people didn't like having an alternate route. We felt that for a 24 hour race it really isn't an unfair advantage either way. For a 2 hour race maybe, but for a 24 hour race, not a big deal... Plus hopefully it puts a little different spin on each lap (like the number of times you did the log crossing or whatever you were challanged by out there...).

Maybe next year we'll have a teeter line... Now wouldn't that be interesting at 4AM with no sleep??? Maybe we'll have a mattress or two on the ground so if you don't make it you can just take a snooze for a while...

"Magic- The Game", do you know what the Goat named the new sections leading to the log crossing? You know the Goat, what he says goes too...

[jitterjepp]

So, did you guys go for the technical line or the alternate line when your exausted?

Curious because we received a little pre-race feedback that some people didn't like having an alternate route. We felt that for a 24 hour race it really isn't an unfair advantage either way.
I tried all the alternates once in the first few laps and found I liked the expert way more and used those routes for the rest of the race. The only exception was with the log ramp. I tried that three times and gave up on my wet tires. I saw some people making it look pretty easy though. By the time it was dry on Saturday I was so used going the other way I didn't notice it until I was already passing by so I never sucessfully navigated it.
I think you are right though. It didn't make a difference either way. There were pros and cons for both sides on all the expert/optional routes.

All that said some people passed me up then took the optional routes. After that they were behind me.

[RedSquirrel]

I liked the alternates for variety!! It depended on conditions which was faster.

I ignored the one on top of shady cause I knew better.

The afton canyon grassy route was slower when wet. Then when dry I thought it may be faster. It wasn't...so I went back to expert canyon.

I did the log roll 5 of 8 times without a hitch! I made the decision as I approached depending if I had the attack in me.

To be honest I totally missed Valley option until late in the race, never saw it. I heard people coming from that direction once & was confused, then figured it out. I took the easy option once, it was dry, but just didn't enjoy...so I went back to Valley tech. for last lap.

Teeter-Teeter-Teeter....Thanks!!

[Wolfchimp]

I only took the easy options for one lap just to see what they were like. I like the expert sections much better and I felt I could cruise through them faster. I took the log pile 6 of 7 times. Great fun! I loved the spectators sitting at the log pile. The little kids cheered when you went over it. It was great.

[Wolfchimp]

Anyone know when the results are going to be posted and where? Thanks.