The good news is that we know each other so well that verbal communication is not a necessity.
This weekend Nikki and I headed to Fredericksburg, VA to compete as a Women’s Duo at 12-Hour of Lodi. Having only ever done one 12-hour relay last season, Nikki and I decided it would be best to learn from past mistakes: be sure to eat early and often AND don’t try to record the fastest female lap time in the first or second lap (that’ll burn ya twice, sometimes three times).
Our biggest competition of the weekend was dear friend Dee Dee Winfield (fierce cross competitor) and her partner Johanna Krauss. Here’s how it unfolded:
Lap 1: Pretty uneventful – after getting caught up in some traffic early on, I caught Dee Dee and sat on her wheel for the lap, reminding myself that we had 11 more hours of racing to go….We rolled into the transition area together to hand off the wristband (which nobody else seemed to be concerned about as a time-factor other than us!)
Lap 2: Nikki struggled to get the legs and lungs going while Johanna went out of the blocks HARD! (This may have been the fastest female lap of the day – no formal results yet!) Nikki rolled in about 3 minutes behind Johanna. The nonverbal message at transition was not a good one – but I reminded Nikki that we had a long day ahead of us! I’m no expert on this, but I was pretty certain 12 hour races aren’t won in the second lap!
Lap 3: I headed out on a steady pace to try to make up a bit of time, but my legs couldn’t quite match my heart. I stayed a steady 3 minutes back off Dee Dee. Nikki’s nonverbal message at transition told me that she was on a mission.
Lap 4: It must have been those farm fresh scrambled eggs and sausage burritos I whipped up between laps 2 and 3 that got Nikki going because she managed to cut a minute off Dee and Johanna’s lead. I am not sure if it was her stellar performance or accomplished grin that inspired me – but Nikki handed off the wristband, I could feel her intensity and power on it. I got the engine started…
Lap 5: This lap I put aside my polite, “I’d love to get by if you get a chance,” and started with, “Excuse me – can I pass? I’m in pursuit!” I could see Dee Dee on different parts of the course and knew that I was closing in – and I love the absolute thrill of solid competition that takes over! I rolled in to the transition about 30 seconds behind Dee Dee, grinned at Nikki, and told her to “have fun!” (which Nikki knew was code for, “get ‘er”)
Lap 6: Nikki did her work and stayed right on Johanna’s tail, moving hard on the climbs and maintaining composure on the technical sections. She could see Johanna throughout the lap but couldn’t totally close the gap, as Johanna was strong and super fast through the technical sections.
Lap 7: Just about 6 hours into racing – Nikki and I were just getting our race legs on. I felt like my dog, Natasha, on this lap (Background: when we go running on the trails she tends to lollygag a bit, but if there’s fresh scent on the trail, her head is down, tail is up, and she moves!) I knew Dee Dee wasn’t far away and that I had to ride smooth and fast, managing my effort, so that when I caught her I had a little fuel in the tank for a short hard effort. I did just this and managed to gap an additional two and half minutes or so – rolling into the transition in front of the other team for the first time. Nikki smiled, took the wristband, and got to work.
Throughout the day Nikki and I would log notes back and forth to one another about everything from how we were feeling, what we had eaten, any funny jokes we thought of or other VERY important things that best friends have to share hourly. Well, come 11:00 pm, I cut the small talk and my note prior to lap 11 read, “I have no interest in going out on a 13th lap!” But, this wasn’t really our decision – if Dee Dee and Johanna decided to do a 13th lap, even though we were winning, we had to as well, and hold our lead.
Lap 12: At the transition (at about 10:35 pm) Nikki mentioned to me that Johanna and Dee Dee were committed to doing a 13th lap, at which I dropped a few “locker room words”. Then Nikki took off into the woods, thinking that there was no way that I was going to do another lap, but that we had to, and she would step up. …And then we both began with the “what if’s”. My final “what if’s” included: What if Nikki and I ride the last lap together? What if Nikki’s light dies? what if I walk away from this race having regrets? (which Dee Dee planted in my head – very clearly when she said, “You don’t want to wake up tomorrow and wish you had done it – just finish what you started)
…What if I just ride another lap? A true best bud would not stand at the transition with a charged light and water bottle to send their friend DIRECTLY back into the woods. And, as Dee Dee herself knows, a true competitor would not stop a 12 –hour race at 11 hours and forty minutes. I re-charged my light, donned my final clean chammy, sports bra, gloves, and dry socks of the day, ate two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (for the soul) and headed to the transition area.
Lap 13: I enjoyed the sound of the crickets and frogs busy at work at midnight – and the patches of hot air that I would occasionally roll through – and yes, I walked a few sections that my wrists and back couldn’t take a 7th time. But – I still enjoyed the lap and sense of accomplishment!
Nikki and I finished the day in 2nd overall for Duo Team, 1st overall for Women’s Duo (by approximately 12 minutes), with two sweet frame pumps to show for it and 12 hours worth of stuff to chat about on the car ride home!
12-hours of Lodi was a great overall experience and race. Thanks much to Dee Dee and Johanna for great, supportive competition and to the Charlottesville folks that we spent the day with, especially Buck and James for keeping our bikes clean and working.
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