And you thought your Valentines date was a little prickly? Try cuddling up next to a jumping cholla cactus! Five Touchstone members spent the Day of Love getting cozy with some Sonoran single track at the “24 Hours in Old Pueblo” mountain bike relay race.
That’s right – Team Touchstone spent 24 hours on their bikes that day, crushing a total of 320 miles. And if their sweethearts felt dissed, it actually all paid off in the end… Team Touchstone won 1st place in their category: co-ed 5-person team with combined age of 200+ years. Congrats!
It was the first time anyone on the team had competed in a 24-hr race and the first time Olivia had even raced on a mountain bike. Four of the riders had never raced at night, so with everyone rotating through 16-mile laps, the team had their work cut out for them.
To add some spice, two of the riders forgot nightlights altogether, one rider lost power to her light in the middle of a night lap, and everyone crashed at least once.
If you think avoiding jumping cholla cactus on a single track is tricky in broad daylight, you should try this in the middle of the night with no light after you’ve already ridden 50 miles.
Fueled by adrenaline, it was a sleepless 24 hours for the entire team, but they killed their combined 20 laps in style: riding hard, passing fast, and plucking cacti out with combs.
Way to go, Team Touchstone – you rocked it!!
The riders included:
- Markham Connolly, Touchstone’s Director of Operations and Team Captain.
- Olivia Dillon, former pro road cyclist and former Irish National Road and Time Trial Champion.
- Craig Roemer, current National Masters Road Champion 50-54, member of Team Specialized/Touchstone Road Racing team.
- Greg Anderson, member of Team Specialized/Touchstone Road Racing team.
- Chris Baker, member of Team Specialized/Touchstone Road Racing team.
