The course featured a 125 mile grand loop which went through Barry County. Afterwards the riders were sent on a 22.3 mile day loop which would be ridden until an hour before sunset, and at that point, they would be put on the 6.1 mile night loop for the remainder of the event. The course was pretty flat compared to previous National 24 Hour Challenges. 376 riders were registered for this year's event including one rider from France.

Temperatures ranged from the lower 70’s during the day and dropped down into the 50’s during the night. The winds were out of the North but were not that strong. During the final hour of the event on Sunday morning we had a few light rain showers.

This was my 10^th year in the National 24 Hour Challenge and I was looking forward to having a good ride. After setting a personal best ride last year, and having better weather to train in with my move to California I felt confident going into this ride, but knowing the nature of 24 hour events, I was still uncertain as to how I would do this year.

Before I got to the first checkpoint at mile 33 I was already having the first of many mechanical problems that would plague me throughout the ride. Apparently a kink developed in the chain and I was forced to stop several times to flex the chain with my hands in an effort to remove the kink. After the first checkpoint I lost the lead pack of riders and found myself riding alone for the balance of the 125 mile loop.

I switched bikes when crew member John Langlois came up to help me out, and during my time on the second day loop, he was able to fix the problem and the chain gave me no more problems for the remainder of the ride. It was a good thing I didn’t have a flat tire with his bike since I was not equipped with a spare tube.

The day loop was very scenic as we passed through wooded areas and some lakes. I noticed that several people had party signs along the route and I was wondering why they didn’t invite me! During the first two day loops I passed an outdoor party at a golf course and the smell of outdoor cooking was making me very hungry. I was thinking about crashing this party and playing dumb by thinking this was one of the rest stops for the riders. I rolled up the first 200 miles in just over 10 hours and completed 5 of the 22.5 mile day loops. I had 250 miles in before I had to use lights.

Unlike last year’s event, the night loop this year was flatter and some 1.4 miles shorter. I was hoping to ride under the full moon however the cloud cover took care of that, the rural loop was very dark compared to the old course in Byron Center. There were quite a few riders out in the dark for the first few hours but that thinned out in pre dawn hours, and even with many riders on the course, I found group riding difficult as others did have a pace that matched mine. I only rode 3 or 4 of the night loops with other riders. I had some stomach problems during the night that I attributed to some pizza I had earlier in the ride. Interestingly enough, Dean Vogler, a rider that my crew was also helping out, thrived on the stuff, go figure! I had another mechanical problem that developed during the night in the form of a loose headset. We didn’t have all the tools needed to tighten it but we were able to keep it from falling off during the ride.

Shortly after sunrise I broke the 400 mile and was hoping to ride with some riders who rested during the nigh time to help pick up my pace. In years past, I’ve worked with other riders to help each other squeak out that last lap before the 8:00 AM finish. It wasn’t looking good for me so I settled on doing an additional 3 night loops for a mileage of just under 420 miles. Unlike last year when I finished with less than 1 minute left in the event, I had ten minutes left in the event and attempting another loop would have been an absurd proposition.

One of the warmest feelings about doing such an event is the support I get from the event volunteers and my personal crew, they really let me stay focused on achieving a personal best 24 hour ride. To say the least, I had a very experienced support crew that included;

John Langlois- also supported me in the 1997 National 24 hour Challenge, and the UMCA World 24 Hour Championships when I rode in the tandem division. His mechanical skills are awesome!

Tara Kilgo- My niece who first helped me out in the 1994 event at the age of 8 years old. This year her energy and endurance in staying awake was much improved. In ’94 she was asleep before midnight but this year she was up till 5 AM running along side of me giving me bottles and food.

Mom- Who says after every event, "I’ll never do this again!" She has supported me in ’86, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, and 2000.

I would also like to thank Jim Hlavka’s crew for allowing my support crew to follow along on the grand loop.
 
 

Here are some photos from the finish and the awards ceremony that followed.
 
 

Mileage is kept track with mileage cards worn on the backs of riders. Here is what my mileage card looked like after completing 30 night loops, looks like swiss cheese. Note that the daytime mileage section of card is removed upon the start of doing night loops.
 
 

After a shower and a change into clean clothes, the awards ceremony began an hour after the competition of the event. The mileage I rode was good enough to earn a second place finish in the male 30~34 year old category.