We realize that this is a long story but you must realize that this was a very long race full of curiosity, excitement, doubt, exhaustion, pain, and joy! 

 It’s about 8:30 pm on June 7th and Mark and I are rehashing the 70-lap crit that the club had done earlier in the day and wonder if tomorrows road race will be shortened.    After a couple of beers and a bottle of wine, we decide to log on to www.n24hc.com and check out the National 24 Hour Challenge that Rick Eischen is always talking about.  Registration ends at midnight and for some crazy reason we bite and register on-line. We immediately call Rick and start picking his brain.  Rick is the expert on this and has been trying to get gullible Wheelmen to try it for years.  If you recall, he almost had Mark and Critter hooked last year but after taking them on a 165-mile jaunt both decided against the idea.  What have we gotten ourselves in to? 

The next morning we head to Woodville for the last segment of the club stage race.  Karen is still recovering from the flu and wondering if her intestines and strength will be back to normal by next weekend.  Once again we wonder what we’ve gotten ourselves into.  Karen has ridden a couple of double centuries in years past and both times said, “Never again, once is enough”.  All she can recall is how sore her hands, feet and butt were after 200 mi.   Neither of us has more than one century ride in for the year. 

We arrive in Middleville, MI Friday evening to register and set up camp.  After we check in and figure out what to do with all the numbers and ID cards, Mark cleans his bike while Karen makes a run for beer and ice.  Middleville is rather small so we interrogate several locals and are directed to the Swamp Box.  Here Mark indulges in an all-you-can eat perch and Karen, a huge Chicken burrito.  Oh yea, and a couple more Coors Light.  Lights were out by 10:00 pm but our minds stayed up much later. 

The hours before the start of the race are full of trepidation, and excitement, as we sit behind our Ford Windstar, supplied by Kistler Ford, and make peanut butter sandwiches, turkey sandwiches and mix our energy drinks.  The mood is further heightened as the marching bagpipes traverse the parking lot.  We pack our lunch along with 2 bags full of Power Gel (thanks Steve S.), bars, Ensure, and Slimfast, (it was on sale; Mark’s deal!), to give to Julie who will be at the 3 checkpoints during the first 125 miles. 

The race begins promptly at 8am and we quickly find ourselves near the front and wonder if we will be able to sit in at 23+mph for the next 24 hours.  We look for Rick and can’t find him and begin to wonder if we are going too fast or if the flu has gotten the best of him.  

After the first checkpoint at the 33-mile mark we come to the realization that this really is a race!   The pace surges from 23mph to close to 30mph as riders jockey for position in an effort to be the first through the checkpoint. Once through, they grab water and food from their crew and then sprint back out onto the course.   Thank God Rick’s wife, Julie, was there to offer support or we would have never been able to stay with the lead group.    

About 50 miles into the ride we see guys start peeing off their bikes and Karen begins to wonder how/when she will do that?   Mark is wondering the same thing as he already has 2 failed attempts of trying to urinate off his bike.  We track down Dave, an experienced 24-hour rider representing Pfizer and ask if all the checkpoints are as fast and furious as the first.  He indicates yes.  Karen then asks if she will have time to use a port-a-john at the next stop and he replies,  “Absolutely not!”   Great now what do we do?  This posed a dilemma for us, as we wanted to try to stay with the leaders to get in as many early miles as possible.  Plus there was another woman in our group that Karen had to contend with.  We had talked to her a little earlier, and found out that she was from Wisconsin.  This was her second year.  Last year she did 359 miles.  We figured she was out for more this year and we needed to stay with her for as long as possible.  

Two more check points and Karen still needs to pee!  She doesn’t want to drink but can’t risk dehydration this early in the ride and for a brief moment considers going in her shorts. Nah!  About 110 miles into the ride Mark goes off the front on a hill and no one chases.   Karen sits in for a little bit and then decides to bridge up.  No one comes along and an even larger gap develops.  It is at this time that Karen realizes that she can finally PEE and we both promptly jump into the woods.   Moments later the pack comes by and yells that they wouldn’t have chased if we had told them our plans.  Oh well.  Mark pulls us back up to the group but promptly falls prey to leg cramps.

Once on Karen asks Dave, Team Phizer, if he knows what the women’s course record is and then establishes a new goal.  She then shares it with Mark who promptly replies,  “I don’t want to hear about it”.  The goal is kept to herself for the time being as she wonders if she is being realistic or overly optimistic.   Mark tries to sit in but is eventually dropped as his cramps are getting the best of him. We hadn’t discussed this situation and Karen is in a quandary as to what to do but eventually eases up as she realizes that if she can help Mark work through his cramps they will be able to support each other throughout the remainder of the afternoon and night.  We join up at the 125-mile checkpoint where Julie is there with Rick and his daughters.  The flu has gotten the best of him and his disappointment is quite apparent.  None-the-less, he is there with food, water and words of support and encouragement, as he sends us off on our first of five 22-mile loops.  Rick’s family eventually takes him home and we are left to support ourselves for the remainder of the race, but not before seeing Wisconsin along the side getting supplies from her husband.  

continued … Part II is here.