A dear friend and riding buddy of mine from Humboldt threw out the idea to do a 12 hour race in Humboldt a few months ago and I casually consented without giving much thought to the kind of shape I might be in or the difficulty of the course. But, Rosada stuck to her guns and kept the motivation going for months. Originally we were thinking of doing a 3-person team (Rosada, me, and Amy- another friend and rider from Humboldt). But, when I mentioned the event to my friend Stacy who I raced with on the Cal Cycling team, she was super
interested and we decided to do a 4-woman team. Stacy and I drove up to Arcata from Redway on Saturday morning and registered ourselves while Amy and Rosada started the race and did the first 4 laps. Ro and Amy had an awesome start and were pulling lap times of right around an hour. Our plan was for Stacy and I to do the next 4 laps, alternating back and forth, then rotating Amy and Ro back in for the last set. Our hope was to complete 12 laps total in 12 hours, or about 3 laps per person.
The weather was perfect up there for a race in July. The temps hovered right around the upper 70s and there was a nice coastal breeze. The morning fog burned off by noon and it was sunny, but not too hot. On my first lap out I was
struck by how difficult the course was. You start out pretty much right away with a steepish climb and then head into a beautiful Return on the Jedi-esque redwood forest. The trails were all fast-rolling and steadily climbed up. There was a section of newly cut trail that was kind of bumpy, but mostly the course was fast and steep. Over 8 miles, there is about 1300 ft of climbing per lap and some fast, loose fire-road descents. On my first lap, I focused on warming up and getting a feel for the best lines. I came through the start/ finish in under an hour and handed off the baton to Stacy. Stacy set out for a first quick lap. As an ex-pro roadie, she is always in amazing shape and an incredible athlete. She came through 
the start/finish in under 50 minutes and I was off again to try to keep her pace. My second lap went a little bit smoother than the first now that I knew the course and what to expect. Back at the start/finish it was a lot of fun to catch up with Amy and Ro and cheer and support 
eachother. It was also fantastic to have Ethan as our awesome pit crew and he helped make sure our bikes were running smooth. After Stacy and I did our 4 lap set, Ro and Amy headed out for 2 more, and then I was back on the trail. I got the chance to test-ride a 29er that some folks from Adventure's Edge had for my 3rd lap. It was super neat to ride on the bigger wheels and I was surprised 
by how quick it was on the descents. I'd definitely like to own one at some point. Then Stacy headed out for her 3rd lap and as she left we guestimated that we would have the opportunity to do one more lap if she kept her pace. We decided it would be fun to do the last (13th) lap together, so as she came through I hopped back on my bike to join her for the last parade lap as the day 
winded up. It was a ton of fun to be out on the course together and we were able to ignore all the pain and soreness from being in the saddle all day. We were keeping a strong pace until my chain jammed on a short climb and I was unable to shift it out of the big ring. I don't what 
exactly happened, but we pushed and pulled on the front derailleur for at least 5 minutes and it wouldn't budge. A couple of riders went by and we asked for help, but no one knew what to do. I had all but given up and told Stacy to finish it without me when she man-handled the chain into the middle cog with all her might. Amazingly it worked and we were able to power our way back the start/finish with a few minutes to spare before the cut-off time. Phew! All in all, it was an awesome day on the bike and a fun event with friends. We were all impressed with our consistency in lap times and stoked to exceed our goal. Lap times below:
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER amy - Women Expert/Pro | 1 | 01:02:43.30 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER ro - Women Expert/Pro | 2 | 00:59:14.68 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER amy- Women Expert/Pro | 3 | 01:02:28.85 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER ro - Women Expert/Pro | 4 | 00:56:58.49 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER emma - Women Expert/Pro | 5 | 00:49:14.72 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER stacy- Women Expert/Pro | 6 | 00:48:40.93 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER emma- Women Expert/Pro | 7 | 00:49:41.87 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER stacy- Women Expert/Pro | 8 | 00:48:39.01 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER amy- Women Expert/Pro | 9 | 01:00:44.88 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER ro- Women Expert/Pro | 10 | 00:56:34.32 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER emma- Women Expert/Pro | 11 | 00:48:47.86 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER stacy- Women Expert/Pro | 12 | 00:50:38.90 |
| SOHUM WOMEN | 4-RIDER emma- Women Expert/Pro | 13 | 00:59:21.20
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