I went up to the 24 hours of Whiskeytown up in Northern Cali, just south of Mt. Shasta. It was held by Team Big Foot and was apparently their first 24 hour event. It was during their annual 9-5, so I figured there would be a good spill over crowd. I went up there with Matt and Kate, and arrived at midnight. Quickly learned that it would be around freezing at night! Didn't quite have the right cold weather gear.
The course was pretty awesome, an 8 mile loop that started with a long double-track climb up a sizable hill (read: mountain). The only problem? There were only 2 teams and 2 solo riders. The 9-5 field was huge, but after 5 PM, it started getting really lonely out there. A large part of keeping motivated during the night is being pushed by people on the trail and having competitors to talk to and ride with. This, unfortunately, was not an option.
I ate dinner at around 8:30 PM, it was already pitch black out and below 40 degrees. By the time I completed my next lap, it was 34 and my rear brake shit the bed. I could fix it, but I opted to take a nap instead. Tragically the nap lasted longer than expected, so that was my race.
Overall, I'd recommend it if they could deliever larger crowds. Maybe if they held it during the end of August when the nights are warmer. I'll give Bigfoot the benefit of a first time. Seems like a really awesome organizing team!
