12-hour Bike Race

Short race report:  rode the Saragota 12-hour on Saturday for the second time (first was in 2012).  Adirondack Ultra Cycling has moved the course from the 32.5-mile loop in Schuylerville NY to a 40.5-mile loop starting and finishing in Saratoga Springs.  (The old and new loops share a few miles of road, including a pretty stretch along the upper Hudson River.)  Perhaps due to unfortunate conflicts between the promoter and the Ultra-Marathon Cycle Association, resulting in this event's being dropped as a RAAM qualifier, the Saratoga 12/24 has lost some ridership; last weekend's race seemed to start about 50% fewer riders than in 2012 when I last entered.

Small crowd at the starting line.

Hot day with lots of exposure to the sun!  I was a piece of jerky by the end of lap 3 and considered quitting at the end of lap 4.  Thankfully a nap under the cold stream from a hose and a few choice words from M__, D__, and RD John Ceceri revived me.  Others fared similarly or worse.

There were upsides, though:  made it through 100 miles in what is probably my fastest non-drafting effort for that distance and rode most of that first century swapping leads with eventual 24-hour winner John Nobile.  (The 24-hour race is run concurrently with the 12, with the same 8 am start.  While my own pace slacked off, and considerably, Nobile kept nearly the same pace through the heat of the day -- and then not appreciably slower through the night -- to ride 468 miles in two turns of the little hand.  For those that are concerned about their age, Nobile is a youthful 51.)  As she has several times prior, M__ came and provided extraordinary support.  While suffering from the heat, she enjoyed the camaraderie that crews share in ultra events.

Still happy-ish before the start.

Final tally for your correspondent was 208.5 miles and a third-place finish.