Team Alchemist Blog

Mike W. dusty and tired after 18 hours of Fruita

Mike W., Rich, Rick, Greg and Laurie were in Fruita last weekend choking down dust and tearing up the 18 Hours of Fruita course.  Here’s Mike’s account:

“Well, at least we had a ton of fun!  The race was a comedy of errors — viruses that led to barfing, bike lights that failed, double flatting, you name it — it all happened.  We ended up 16th but if those fails hadn’t piled on, we would have been in range of the top 5 again.

Jeff, I never managed to get the crew together for a team photo in the kits, my apologies.  The combination of heat & dust meant that the minute folks finished their efforts, they were off to wash up.  The shot I missed and would have loved to have was the one where just as Rich was leaving for his 8a-ish lap he asked me to grab him a burrito that he could eat once he got back.  Apparently he was thinking about that burrito the whole time he was out — as soon as he got back, he inhaled the thing in like 3 bites.  While still wearing his dusty riding gloves, glasses, helmet, and riding shoes.  He slipped on that lap and was completely covered in dust from head to toe.

Here’s what he looked like a moment or two later:

Rich after a hot lap, burrito, and a breath of air.

Laurie did her best but spent too much time stopping to let any/ everyone pass.  We got to hang out with her a bit, but she was bound & determined to stay self reliant despite my many offers to help…  Here she is at the finish:

Laurie after completing 18 Hours of Fruita. Solo. This was on the heals of a 200k and 400k in Cali.  She’s a bit nuts

I am simultaneously in awe of Drew’s incredible result from last year (he managed an additional lap solo vs our team total) and searching for reasons how that could have happened?  Sure they added some length to the course & not just additional trail, but twisty/ turny sandy slow sections to boot.  I’ve already emailed Drew my additional respects and tried to avoid the long list of excuses.”

Here are a few more shots:

Rick after a long night of barfing. But hey, sun’s out, guns out!

Dirty, dirty.