Lesley Tomlinson INTERVIEW - mountainbikeRACER.com

When did you arrive at the event location and did you have enough time to “settle in”, pre-ride the course and get comfortable with your surroundings?

Because the race was at altitude(5400ft) I live at Sea Level I stayed in Vernon Thurs night after driving up from home town of Vancouver which is 5 ½ hrs. We drove the trailer up which was a bit of a slug. Set up at the mtn on Friday, rode 1 lap of the course and drove back down to Vernon for the night. The effects of altitude don’t start to affect me until I spend a night high. If I don’t plan to acclimate properly by staying up high for a while, I minimize the time. I had raced a National Championship and World Cup XC race at Silverstar before so I had an idea of the terrain.

Nancy Busching – SoBe / Cannondale was your closest competitor completing 16 laps. Were you always in the lead?

I didn’t know what pace I could handle for 24 hrs but thought I’d shadow her for the first lap then put time on the first decent. I didn’t want to be held up for the single track and suspected I would be more comfortable in the technical terrain. The pace felt slow which is to be expected, but I thought I could entice her in to my pace which may throw off her plan. I did get a lead after the decent on the first lap only to flat and have some complications in my change. I came in 6 mins down on the first lap, took back some ground on the second, flatted again on the third and I think actually passed her sometime on the 5th or 6th lap. I felt I had raced at a hard pace for that first 7 hours and started to think about how long I had to go. Not having any idea what I would be like in 10 hours, I slowed down, tried to be conservative and just maintain the lead. I also had never ridden much in the dark so I was careful during that time. My lead increased significantly sometime around 3 to 4 am, up to around 45 mins, then I took a long break at 7am when I like everyone had become fairly hypothermic as the storm hit. That reduced my lead for the last lap.

Course conditions went from extremely dry and dusty to torrential downpours and 35mph winds. Did you expect this at all and how did you keep warm with the huge temperature drop?

I didn’t expect it at all and was under prepared. My pit crew Elladee and Pete actually went up to the suite we had rented and did laundry to keep me in clothes. I am Canadian though and ride all winter around Vancouver (the Shore) in rain and about 40 degrees F. That was how I started Mountain Biking rather than being on the road in the rain all winter.

Did you take any breaks off of the bike and did you have a support crew?

Elladee Brown of numerous counts of Mountain Bike fame in all disciplines, and Peter Valance who is a part time mechanic for our National Team were my crew. Both new to this but tons of experience in the sport and just good personalities for the job. My breaks had no plan. I knew I shouldn’t stop for too long but I don’t think they were much more than 4 or 5 mins except for my long one at 7 am. However long it took me for a couple of complete changes and to stuff down food. Peter always had the bike for the lap ready to go as I came in. Both are new to this but have tons of experience in the sport with good personalities for the job.

How would you rate the course as far as technical difficulty – and were the technical sections any more difficult with the extreme rain?

The course was very taxing to ride for so long. Quite technically challenging and although I like that, it was hard on the body. My 3 flats also made me careful and I slowed down my speed so as not to have any real mechanicals. The course deteriorated an incredible amount. Some of the uphill singletrack became hard to ride. All the decent was fine, but I’m sure the vast number of exposed roots and shiny rocks were intimidating to many. West Coasters are pretty used to that.

What was the length of a lap and which lap did you consider was the most difficult?

My early laps without the flats were not too far over the hour but they increased at times to over 1 ½ in the dark and with the changing conditions. I never knew very much about lap times or number of laps, just that I had to keep going. I didn’t know how many laps I’d done until the awards.

To withstand such adverse conditions and persevere achieving the 24HR WORLD SOLO CHAMIPIONSHIP TITLE – what kept you going?

I said I would do it, how could I stop. Perseverance has always been my strong point. I know it is just a mind game. After all the incredibly difficult races I’ve done in my career I’ve learnt that the easiest thing to do is “Step Off” or stop. NOT doing the “easiest” thing is what racing and challenges are all about.

How did your Rocky Mtn Bike holdup for such a long race and did you ride the same one throughout the whole race?

I alternated between the new ETS X90 that I also road at Trans Alp Challenge for our win and the Element Team issue. Both are full suspension. The X Bike is a little more of an all mountain design with changeable travel and lockout front and rear. It has 3 different settings in the rear, I stayed at 3.5 inches I also like it active for rough climbing. The front 2003 Marzocchi Marathon Fork has 100 mm of travel and is has 4 settings with lockout. The X Bike is about 1 lb heavier than the Element and has a higher BB. I really like it for Epic riding. The new Energy Transfer System allows good positive pedaling. I always like the Element and have ridden it in many World Cup races. Both bikes are Shimano XTR. The Hayes Disc brakes were an absolute must. My hands were sore anyway but in the conditions there would have been no brakes left without discs and they saved my hands. I rode primarily Hard Drives by Maxxis on the front 2.1 medium knobby tire and semi slicks rear. Later on I had Hard Drive front and rear. With Peters work both bikes were awesome. I alternated every lap.

What do you consider to be the most important attribute for a 24 Hour Solo racer?

A Strong conviction and I think it helps to know you can go faster than you can manage for 24 hrs. So having some speed ability to go with the endurance helped me to know I had some pace changes to play with. The ability to set a plan and stick to it.

In the 24hr of Adrenalin article it mentioned that you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into which is probably a good thing – was this your first 24 Hour Solo race and will you defend your title next year?

This was my first 24 hr. It’s too soon after the race to want to make a decision. If or when I say I will defend my title, which will be a commitment.

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