The Canyon Experience

Well it has been 2 weeks since we competed in the "24 Hours in the Canyon" race so I thought I better get an update posted. Going into the race I was pretty excited because I knew we had a great team. Steve Dutton, Jon Shank, Bill Clinesmith and myself made up the "Kansas 29ers". So here is the race scoop.

Steve Dutton and I rolled out of Great Bend around noon on Friday and headed down to Larned to pick up Jon Shank. After loading his gear into the race trailer we motored toward Dodge City. In Dodge we hooked up with Bill Clinesmith and snatched up his gear. Bill would be coming down to the Canyon on Saturday morning to join us for the race. After a fuel stop in beautiful Booker, Texas (where we could see the end of the earth) we rolled on towards Amarillo for a final stop before arriving at the race venue around 8:00. Our plan was to get a campsite secured and get a pre-ride in on Friday night. But, we were running abit behind schedule and running out of daylight.

None of us had ever been to Palo Duro Canyon so we didn't no what to expect. As we entered the main gate to the canyon I will admit we were not impressed. But, after driving another mile it was almost like we had landed in a different world. We topped a rise in the road and then began a steep, winding plunge to the canyon floor. This decent is as dramatic as anything you will find even in Colorado. It is a 900' vertical drop from the canyon rim to the canyon floor. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the US behind the Grand Canyon. The terrain also changes dramatically from a dry sagebrush covered flatland to a lush tree and brush covered valley with a small river flowing throughout. After following the road for what seemed like an hour, we found our way to Juniper camping area where the competitive race teams would be stationed. Unfortunately, as we drove through the campsites, we found that all the spots were pretty much taken. So we pulled into a less than desirable spot, unhooked the trailer and marked the area with some yellow tape. We then quickly dawned our riding gear, checked our bikes and prepared to take that pre-ride. However, just as we began to hit the trail, one of the race directors informed us that we could not park in the area we were in. So, we had to hook up the trailer and move everything to a spot which they had found for us. Once relocating, we were off to ride the trail. Our pre-ride quickly tuned into a night ride and to our dismay, the exact course for the race had still not been marked. So, after getting lost in the darkness, our 9 mile pre-ride ended up being a 13 mile pre-ride. As we pulled out of the canyon and headed to the motel, we still were not exactly sure what tomorrow's race would bring.

After a restless night of sleep, Saturday morning and race day came quickly. The gates to the canyon opened at 8:00 am and we were in line there at 7:30. After descending to the campsite, we began the process of assembling the pop-up canopies, organizing the pit area and doing some final tune-ups on the bikes. Once all those tasks were complete, it was time to establish the position each of us would race in. We all agreed Bill would be our best choice to lead off the race but since he would not be arriving until just before the start, that would not be possible. So, the decision was made that Steve would lead us off, followed by Jon, and then either myself or Bill, depending on his arrival time. With everything now in place, I made a quick tour of the campsites to scout out the other teams. There were a number of impressive pit areas and it was obvious that the competition would be tough and it would be a challenging race. As I returned to out pit area, it was about 10:00 am and much to my surprise, Bill had arrived. This was perfect because that meant he could now be our lead rider which would put us in the best position to challenge for the title.

As the noon start of the race drew closer, it was time for the riders meeting. We all gathered near the camp entrance as the race director outlined the rules and answered questions. The start/finish area was very tight so the first lap would include a 1/4 mile of paved road which would allow the riders to spread out before funneling into the narrow single track. As the siren sounded the start of the race, Bill quickly sprinted out with the lead pack and would maintain that position as they entered the single track. Bill is an outstanding racer and even though he had never ridden this trail, he was not the least bit intimidated. The trail was a 9 mile loop and knowing it was very fast and not real technical, I had anticipated Bill's laps would be around 35-40 minutes. At 12:30, Steve was positioned at the starting line awaiting Bill's arrival and just as predicted, Bill came in at just over 40 minutes which included the extra mile or so of run-out. Bill and Steve exchanged timing chips and Steve was off on his first lap. Team Kordestani was in 2nd just 15 seconds back, Team Access was in 3rd at just over 3 minutes back and the Four Strangers were in 4th place, a full 8 minutes back. You can already see the battle that was developing between our team and Team Kordestani. Steve would finish his first lap in 41:35 with Jon finishing in 41:24. All three of my team mates had turned really fast and uneventful laps and as Jon passed the timing chip to me I was off on my inaugural lap. The trail really set up nicely for me. The cliffside portion of the trail was very fast with long gradual climbs. After reaching lighthouse rock, the trail became much more twisty with short steep climbs. All of the descents were not real technical but the trail was littered with numerous jagged rocks in varying sizes and shapes as well as deep ruts that really kept you on your toes. Other than encountering afew slow riders, my first lap was pretty smooth and I finished in a respectable time of just under 46 minutes which is about what I had anticipated.

As we started our second rotation, the temperature was really starting to heat up. The humidity was also pretty high and there was very little breeze. To say it was HOT was an understatement and little did we know it was only going to get hotter.
I had grabbed a water hose and spray nozzle from the garage before we left thinking we could use it to wash off the bikes. Little did I know that this hose would probably be the most important thing we had on Saturday afternoon. There was a faucet right next to our pit area and after every lap we would just sit under that hose and let the water rain down on us.
This really allowed us to cool down much quicker and we need quick cool downs considering the temperature was between 105 and 110 degrees. The trail was mostly headp-packed red clay so the sun was really radiating off the trail and onto the riders. There were several large thermometers scattered around the course and at one point they were reading 120 degrees. Since all of us were turning pretty fast laps, we really only had about 75 minutes of good rest time before we had to start gearing up again. We all did 3 laps in the extreme heat and we were most definitely glad to see the sun drop down behind the canyon rim.

The race utilized electronic chip timing which enabled us to keep track our times and position in the race. Just as we thought it would, it become a three team race and 6 hours in we were battling Team Kordestani for first with Team Access still in third but slipping further back. We were 10 minutes out of first.

As night began to fall, our strategy was for each of us to do back to back laps. This would allow for much more rest time for each of us and since we had really good light set-ups it would also allow us to hopefully make up some time. As miserable as the conditions has been that afternoon, the night conditions were completely opposite. Many of the race teams had really backed off their ride time so the trail had very little traffic. The temperature had dropped back into the 60's and at times it even felt alittle cool. The trail was extremely fast and all of us were really flying around the course. Last October, when I did the 24 Hours of Moab, I only had a single Stella light. It is a decent light but it doesn't even come close to the two Ameba's that I now have. My bar light is a 510 lumen flood and my helmet light is a 510 lumen spot and they make it almost like riding in full sunlight. The confidence you get from good lighting really helps you go much faster at night and in fact my fastest lap of the event was a night lap. Let me tell ya, night racing is a real blast.

As the sun came up, Sunday morning. Each of us were experiencing some minor stomach issues and cramping but surprisingly we all felt pretty good and none of us had any major mechanical issues or crashes, other than my run-in with a porcupine. During the night we were able to really put some distance between ourselves and Team Access. But, Team Kordestani had really turned some great times and they had also doubled up on laps as we did. Their lead had grown to about 30 minutes. Kordestani is the top local team and Palo Duro is their home trail. They ride the Canyon as much as we ride Wilson so obviously this gave them a huge advantage. Plus, the fact that they had air conditioned trailers, cooks, bike mechanics and other support staff also gave them a leg up on us and the other teams. That being said, we were really giving them a battle and it would go down to the very end.

As each of us finished our Sunday morning laps and as the time got closer to the noon finish, it became apparent we were not going to catch Kordestani. They had built a 35 minute lead on us and when Jon came in just before the 11:30 cut-off there was no need for me to go out. We were not going to catch them and our lead over the third place team had exploded to over 2 hours. We were guaranteed 2nd place and just in case I had went out for another lap Kordestani had a rider waiting to go also.

So, it was over. As we packed up the gear, several of the Kordestani team members came down to see just who these guys from Kansas were. We had really pushed them the entire race and they were appreciative of our efforts as we were of theirs. Jon had brought a scale and each of us jumped on to check our weights. The four of us had lost a total 34 pounds during the race and that was even after we had consumed almost 4 cases of bottled water and countless ounces of energy drink. We pulled out of the Canyon with our 2nd place awards, some great stories to tell and a new found respect for Palo Duro. It was a tremendous race and one we look forward to again next year. Until next time, stay "Clipped in and Crankin".