Not the best 24 hours

Ross on the men's podium (Image credit: Nat Ross)

September 22, 2007

Another season's end is nearing and I am still without a World Championship title. My last race did not go as planned, and it is unsettled as I reflect upon solo race number thirty-five. However, I should mention that I still climbed on to the podium in third place. For most races, a top three is my goal, but every now and then I feel like a course suits my racing style so I put my eggs into the winning basket. That was the case for the 24 Hour Solo World Championships this year.

There were several plusses to the race as well as plenty of minuses, however, it was the plusses that had me all excited to show up and take some names. There were some big plusses. The race was in the fall, and I am always stronger as the season progresses. It was at sea level and coming from high altitude things couldn't be better. The course had over 2,000 feet of climbing per lap, and Chris Eatough (winner from 2000-2006) was not on the start list. Also exciting my lighting sponsor Light and Motion released an ultra light new model called the Rusch (named after Rebecca Rusch—2007 World Solo Champ!).

I showed up early to the venue and got in the groove with my crew. I had two locals that were joining my A-Team staff of Myron Billy and Brett Batchelder for the weekend. Aussie Bob and Alex were ready to experience the pits first hand. I buttered them up by taking the crew out to see "SuperBad" at a local movie theater on Friday night. The movie was the bomb, and my crew was in great spirits and eager to help me ride to victory.

Alex had been checking the weather on the internet, and warned that the temps were going to be unusually high. This was very worrisome, so I revised my race strategy to include hydrating and eating whole foods during the day laps. I also decided to back off my tempo at the start and not go out as fast as I typically do. Instead, I chose to top off my tanks with fuel and start riding aggressive during the night when the temps went down to something more tolerable.

After the messed up call-ups the race began with a leman's style run. I came in behind two Aussie's Jon Claxton (Giant) and Andy Bell (Kona), hopped on my bike and lead out the field out on to the Laguna Seca racetrack. I set a decent pace to spread out the field and was quickly joined by Brent Miller (Titus/Kenda). He drove the pace while John and I followed his wheel with Tinker Juarez (Cannondale) right on our tail. Right away, things were not clicking for me. I was swerving all over the singletrack. I was not one with my bike, and my legs were not feeling up to it. After forcing myself to continue at this pace for the first half hour, I decided that I had to pull aside and pedal at my own rhythm. It was unfortunate to let the leaders go ahead before the midpoint of the first lap. Typically, I like to keep contact if I am not setting the tempo, but on this day it was not happening for me.

During the remainder of Saturday's daylight I picked my way back up to fifth place. I climbed up the intense sun exposed hills at a steady pace, but not too fast as to avoid cooking myself. Before nightfall, I was around 30 minutes behind the leaders, Tinker and Kelly Magelky (BMC/Sports Garage). This was not the position or place I wanted to be in forcing me to wait anxiously for the sun to go down and the temps to cool.

Before nightfall, the extremely high temperatures started to take its toll on many racers in the field. Two of the top contenders for the women were forced to stop early; Monique "Pua" Sawicki (Ellsworth/Ergon) and Louise Kobin (X-Fusion). Brandon Draugelis (Bare Naked/Cannondale) and Yuri Hauswald (Marin) were also puking on the course, and were unable to keep fluids in while Sloane Anderson (Ergon) and Keith Bontrager had called it a day. The sweltering daytime temperatures on the course were starting to affect most of the competitors. I tired to put on blinders to the carnage on the course, but when you roll through the pits lap after lap and see tents being taken down and medics pumping racers with IV's, your head starts question your actions.

During the evening, John Claxton, who was in third, had cracked, and he was pushing his bike. Josh Oppenheimer, who was in fourth, had also lost a few positions. Now the old guards would end up with prize money if experience and patience would come into play. After moving up into third there was a fierce battle going on behind me for the remaining spots on the podium. Ernesto Marenchin (Sologoat) and Mark Hendershot (Santa Cruz/Syndicate) were steadily making their mark on the race. Mark and Ernesto are always on my radar as Mark is strong and always solid, and Ernesto beat me at Worlds three years ago in Whistler, British Columbia.

The night dragged on forever, and I never made ground on Kelly or Tinker. Kelly was setting a mean pace, and Tinker matched it ten feet behind. I was in no-mans land and hating it. It would have been nice to have some tunes kicking instead of silence at this point in the game. When the sun came up everybody was dreading the last few laps in the heat. Ernesto turned it on big time and closed within ten minutes of me. I was stoked that my new SuperFly carbon hardtail ran so great, and that I had no mechanicals. At the end of the race, I was happy to finish on the podium, although overall I had a crappy day as a professional bike racer.

As a six-year professional mountain biker who's competed in twenty-eight solo 24-hour races, you'd think that ultra-endurance racing has consumed every waking hour of 35 year-old Nat Ross' adult life. But this lean, long-haired and laid-back Coloradoan has a more complete resume than even the most upwardly-mobile corporate go-getter - although that won't stop him going the distance when it matters.