May 16-17, 2020
Central Pennsylvania
Click directly on video below to play
Click directly on video below to play
The race we entered was canceled. However, plans were in place for the Nankmans for a 24 hour mountain bike race that weekend. Vacation time was already submitted. Race food was already purchased and prepped. The cat already had a pet sitter for the weekend. So why not just race anyway? Why not just do our own 24 hour event?
An attempt was made to rally other racers to take part, to make it a virtual challenge but nothing really came out of that. So it was decided that it would be just the Nankmans doing their own event; the social distance mandated solo 24 hour challenge. Just Jessica, Joël, and occasionally Clifford (the dog). On their own. In the forest of central Pennsylvania. Riding mountain bikes for 24 hours. Sound crazy? It is. Sound amazing? It was.
24 hour races are physically and mentally challenging as a group event, when there are actual other people to race. Competitors push each other. Prizes are at stake. Bragging rights are earned. Now imagine taking all of that motivation away. Tell two people they need to ride their bikes for 24 hours for really no reason other than to just do it. Tell two people they are going to be awake for 30 hours and riding their bikes for potentially 24 of those; they are going to be tired, sore, chafed, have blisters, be delirious, injured from crashing...and that they are doing this for no other reason than to just do it. Just to push themselves mentally and physically. Just to see of they can do it or not. Just for the challenge. Just for the enjoyment.
Well, that's what Joël and I did. We started Saturday at 10am and finished Sunday just after 10am. A total time out there of 24 hours with a moving time of 20 hours. No sleep. No sitting down. Our only extended stops were for nutrition, hydration, to change clothes, to attend to Clifford (who joined us for some riding here and there) and for a mechanical issue. We had our ups and downs. We laughed. We cried. We chit chatted. We asked for quite times. We cracked jokes and did silly things. We disagreed and voiced our opinions. We cursed; sometimes a lot. We stopped to look at the view and enjoy nature. We rode hard. We walked. Our legs hurt, our hands ached from holding the bars, our butts hurt from chafing. But we overcame it all; the mental and physical hardships. We showed that when you do something you love, and especially with the person you love, you can do crazy things and enjoy them.
I'm not going to bore you with all the details. Watch the video above to see what it was all about. Click directly on the video above or click on the link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNuzHL8z3qg
Thanks to Saucon Valley Bikes, Liv Cycling USA, Lupine Lights, Honey Stinger, and Bicycling Magazine for making things like this possible. A huge shout out to BEMA for caring for the awesome trails we rode and for stopping by to see us at the end. Your support was greatly appreciated!
- Jessica (and Joël) Nankman
I'm not going to bore you with all the details. Watch the video above to see what it was all about. Click directly on the video above or click on the link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNuzHL8z3qgThanks to Saucon Valley Bikes, Liv Cycling USA, Lupine Lights, Honey Stinger, and Bicycling Magazine for making things like this possible. A huge shout out to BEMA for caring for the awesome trails we rode and for stopping by to see us at the end. Your support was greatly appreciated!
- Jessica (and Joël) Nankman