Endurance race keeps bicyclists up all night

Covered in sweat and dirt and a little dehydrated, Natasha Wagner celebrated the finish of her first mountain bike race ever – all 24 hours of it.

“It was just a challenge I guess,” she said.

Wagner joined 500 other riders, their families, dogs and the occasional team mechanic at the fifth annual 24-Hour Round the Clock Mountain Bike Race at Riverside State Park Saturday through Sunday.

“Everyone said I was crazy,” for entering the competition, she said while sipping a post-race Heineken at her camp site. The race began at noon Saturday and officially ended when Wagner, the last finisher, crossed the finish line at about 2 p.m. Sunday.

The winners are determined by which individual or team can get in the most laps on the 14-mile course in 24 hours, with the top individual winners recording 21 laps, or 294 miles. Individuals can grab a few hours of sleep and restart while racers on teams pass a baton and take turns on the course.

With some friendly competitors who were taking a victory lap urging her on, Wagner started one more lap as she crossed the starting line just two minutes before the noon cutoff.

Wagner, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, finished second to last in the women’s solo category. But, like most of her competitors, her main objective was having a good time.

“The solo riders are a breed of their own,” said Wendy Bailey of Round and Round Productions, which organized the race. “Imagine riding your bike for 24 hours straight,” she said.

The event also serves as the national championship for 24-hour mountain bike races and drew competitors from as far away as Pennsylvania and Hawaii.

Most riders lounging in the lively tent city set up along the park’s Seven Mile Airstrip area, though, were part of teams of up to 10 people.

“There’s a ton of casual riders out here. They’re here to have a really good time,” Bailey said.

“This has become my Memorial Day,” said Eric Reise, a parks and recreation director who skipped the holiday in his hometown of Hermiston, Ore., to attend the race with his team, South of the Border.

“It’s tough because the lap times have to be so fast,” said Bran Cimmigotti, slightly shaky as he sipped water through his dirt-stained teeth after the team’s last lap.

Despite the usual road rash and dehydration, the event caused no serious injuries, and fewer people visited the first-aid tent than did last year.

“It’s remarkable, there are some really good riders,” said Bill Ettinger, a member of the Mt. Spokane ski patrol who volunteered his medical knowledge at the race.

At night, bikers use headlights and carry a backup light source. Most people use powerful lighting systems made for night biking, but Ettinger was still impressed with how well riders handled the darkened course, including some parts “a sane person wouldn’t walk down,” he said

Temperatures in the upper 80s Saturday added to the challenge, and several of the national competitors dropped out of the race early because of heat stroke and other health problems.

At night, the temperature dipped into the 50s, and riders could catch a glimpse of various mountain biking flicks and other movies as they passed the starting area – courtesy of Team Menstrual Cycle.

“Everybody riding by gets to see it and they get pumped up,” said Scott Sears of Seattle.

The team of men who live in California, Colorado and Washington finds a way to “ride once a month, period,” which is how they came up with the team name.

Their total sleep for the night was between 1 and 2 1/2 hours between laps.

“All you do is lie down for half an hour and try to regenerate the body,” Sears said.

“You just rehydrate until you pee, then you go.”

His team came in eighth in its category, in front of teams Numb and Dumber and the Drug Pedalers.

First place and the national championship title in the solo women category went to Monique Sawicki, who made 19 laps.

Cameron Chambers took the national title in the solo men category. He made 21 laps around the course, along with the second- and third-place winners. When more than one person finishes with the same number of laps, the person with the fastest time wins.