After three consecutive years of racing solo at the 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo ("24 HOP"), I called for backup. Three other retired PCSO Officers answered the call, none of whom have witnessed, let alone raced, a 24 hour mountain bike race. In fact, two have never even raced a mountain bike, at all. Not deterred by a little headwind, we formed a four man relay team shooting to each ride a Saturday afternoon lap, an evening/night lap, and maybe a Sunday morning lap. See, 24 HOP - Old Dogs New Tricks.
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| An idea hatched over coffee and donuts. Four man relay team at 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo. Craig Groseth, Dave Rubins, Mark Steele, Trent Fliginger, Tim Malone (L-R). Four riders + Trent, who will be cruising elsewhere. |
To help those teammates prepare for such an endeavor, I broke down some of the logistics. Next up was visualizing and creating a fun, functional team camp. At 24 HOP, you will see absolutely every kind of camping setup, from a U-Haul cargo truck used as a camper to a million dollar EarthRoamer off-road RV. Our planned team campsite is modest and very common - a central group shelter surrounded by individual tents, campers, and vehicles.
For a behind-the-scenes look at our relay team preparing for a 24 hour mountain bike race, I reproduced here the communication "The Briefing Room" that I sent out to the team.
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"At 24 HOP, we'll be living on a barren stretch of cactus-infested desert from early Thursday until Sunday afternoon. There is absolutely nothing there for human sustenance, let alone comfort, but what we bring or the event brings. Nothing.
What the event brings. The event provides porta-potties with hand washing stations, portable showers, garbage/recycle bins, medical personnel, and infrastructure for a variety of vendors. Vendors include a handful of food trucks for meals, snacks, and drinks, a couple of bike maintenance shops (Orange Seal and Stan's were there last year with free sealant top-offs), bike makers with demo bikes, clothing companies (both cycling specific and casual), non-profits/charity groups promoting their causes, lighting sponsor Outbound Lighting with service, free light recharging, and discounts on new lights, and a local micro-brewery with a beer garden by the start/finish/awards area.
Go to the Event Guide on the race website for more information on 24 Hour Town. https://epicrides.com/events/24-hours-in-the-old-pueblo/event-guide/ For a big picture overview of 24 Hour Town, I attached an aerial image from the 2024 24 HOP.
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| 24 Hour Town at 24 HOP. Transition Tent (on left), with orange finishing arch and Gear/Expo Area (to the right). (image by SportoGraf) |
What the event does not bring. Note that the event does not bring many things that you're going to want. Like water. Like shade. Like a place to sit. Like power to run/recharge devices.
What I'll bring. (This is a working draft subject to change).
1. Water for 4 days. Last year, I brought 10 gallons for my solo race and consumed less than half that. So, I'll bring 10-12 gallons total this year for Dave and me, since Dave will be flying in from Florida.
2. Food & snacks for 4 days. The food trucks are great, and I buy something every year, but it's much more convenient to plan to eat at the campsite. Bring a wide assortment of a lot of calories. You never know what will taste good during the weekend and especially during the race. For example, one year hot ramen noodles hit the spot for me in the middle of the night.
For drinks, I'll bring water, coffee & hot chocolate, Hammer Fizz (electrolytes), Hammer Recoverite (recovery drink), and Coke (for instant sugar/caffeine hit). Maybe chocolate milk, if I can keep it cool.
For meals, I'll bring oatmeal, breakfast bars, peanut butter & honey for tortillas, beef sticks/jerky, summer sausage/cheese/crackers, frozen breakfast & dinner burritos, ramen noodles, and a couple of freeze-dried entrees (just in case).
For snacks, I'll bring Hammer gel, Snickers, Peanut M&M's, trail mix, salty chips, chocolate chip cookies, and whatever else strikes my fancy before leaving. Maybe some apple crisp if I can dial in a good recipe or some Cinnabon rolls from Tucson on the drive out to the venue.
We'll work with Dave to figure out his food, so he doesn't have to sort out how to fly with it.
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| My solo campsite at 2024 24 HOP. |
3. The Briefing Room (Team Camp and Surrounding Tents/Campers). We'll set up a team campsite centered on The Briefing Room and carve out enough space around it for everyone to camp and park vehicles.
Over the course of 4 days, we're only riding 3-4 laps apiece. That leaves a lot of time to hang out. Let's make the Briefing Room comfy. I'll start with a 10x10 popup tent with walls, stakes, and a hammer. I'll also bring a large tarp for a floor. I'd like at least one more 10x10 popup or something similar that provides some shelter/shade, if possible. With relay teams, that covered space fills quickly and it would be nice to have a little more space to cook and hang out. We'll add chairs, tables, kitchen, lights, coolers, food storage, etc. to make this The Briefing Room.
For sleeping quarters, I'll bring a small tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and pillow for me and another setup for Dave. Everyone can set up their sleeping quarters near The Briefing Room.
Of course, if Tim brings his new EarthRoamer SX, we'll just chill in there.
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| My solo campsite at the 2025 24 HOP. Very much the same as 2024. |
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| Screen shot from an Epic Rides video at 2025 24 HOP. That's my white popup tent, right off the race course |
4. Camp Furnishing. I'll bring a small table for cooking, a small table for food, some lighting, and a chair. We'll want more camp chairs, table space, and lighting from Mark and Tim. A fire pit and fuel would be a great feature, for both warmth and vibe, if anyone has a portable one. Maybe some music. Maybe some party lights.
We have time to do this right. Let's brainstorm to liven up The Briefing Room.
5. Camp Kitchen. For cooking, I'll bring my bikepacking stove, extra fuel, AeroPress GO & CoffeeBrewer for coffee, mugs, bowls, utensils, and cleanup stuff. That's a one burner stove, so we'll want more. I'll also bring a cooler with a lot of ice, which is not available on site.
We'll need to work on building the Camp Kitchen.
6. Bike Service. With properly prepared bikes and attentive riding, our bikes shouldn't need much service, except lubing the chain and pumping the tires. In any event, I'll bring chain lube, floor pump, basic bike tools, work stand (part of my hitch mounted rack), spare chains (I think I have 9 & 11 speed chains), and flat repair things like extra sealant, plugs, spare tubes, sidewall boots, etc. Probably a few other spare parts I have laying around my shop. A spare tire is not a bad idea, but probably overkill.
In the past, I've brought a spare wheel set and even a spare bike. I won't do so this year. In the highly unlikely event of a catastrophic bike failure, we'll have each other's bikes to share.
That's it for now. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions."
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| My solo campsite at the 2026 24 HOP. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. |
Update: Another friend has a nice 10x10 canopy that he will lend us for the event. That makes the Briefing Room 10x20, which is a lot better. Still, it wouldn't hurt to find another.
