
Race Report: The 2008 12 Hours of Lodi Farms PART II
The Final Chapters
The Final Laps
These multi-lap mountain bike relay races can be a blur, especially when you are dealing with the twists and turns of Lodi Farms. Looking back there is only subtle distinction between my final laps... even if my second lap was in the night while my third and fourth laps were in the light.
The first lap was marked by my effort to catch Family Bike Shop Tom and my photo finish effort with CityBikesMike. The final three laps lacked this sort of drama/excitement. Although each lap was exciting in its own way. The laps involved a fair amount of passing ,me passing other racers while no one passed me. I admit... having Cargo Mike hammering in the slot ahead of me put me f
In so many ways the time is arbitrary... but these times do say something. 57-59-59-56 All laps under an hour or no laps greater than sixty minutes... that time is arbitrary. It is only significant because it is a round number, one hour. For some reason it is fun to say my average was just under an hour.
It is not clear to me what I was doing to be so slow on my second night lap and my first day lap. I would think
seconds add up!
where did these minutes come from?
a few seconds here and a few seconds there and your times drop a minute
My final lap was my fastest lap. This is often the case. So much of this multi-lap relay racing is about pace

Did I want to finish my last lap in 51 minutes? I was not thinking like that... I was just riding my bike. Trying to be effective on the bike. On my last lap I wanted to be faster than the previous laps. That effort did not involve a watch... all I had to do was work harder and that hard work paid off.
light photos by gary ryan
except for the shot of me after the race which is by wrenching in the gears steve
thanks again to Emily and Conrad of