24 Hours Solo update.

His name is Dallas Morris and I suspect he's tougher than you. Having conquered the Race Across the West, Dallas decided to use the 24 Hour Solo World Championships MTB race as his cool down. You may be sickened by this but rejoice in your mere humanity as Dallas is clearly a bike riding machine sent back in time to ride bikes. But to those who know him the story is much different, in fact they would tell you that this is just another day in the life of Dallas Morris. Racer, Teammate extraordinaire, Cycling Advocate, Volunteer, Teacher (to the newer racers), etc. Once Cross season is done there are rumors that Dallas will make his UFC debut with his newly honed fighting style of 'Bicycle Kicking' and 'Bear Stalking'. Dallas, congrats I toast you and your recent victories. I hope you understand why I will never do the cabin ride with you. ;-)

Congrats to the rest of the Speed Theorists that were competing. I look forward to hearing your tales.

From the 24hrs Site:

DALLAS MORRIS: “This was my cool-down from the Race Across The West.”

Vic Armijo

Every solo rider at the 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championship finishes with some physical remnants—saddle sores, blistered feet or hands, general fatigue and “dead legs.” But fifth place rider Dallas Morris (CAN) started this event with all of the above. See, just over a month ago he raced and won the Race Across the West, the sort of “junior” version of the Race Across America that “only” goes from Oceanside, California to Taos, New Mexico; a distance of 1141 miles. “If I hadn’t done the Race Across the West I would have been up with the leaders here. I coulda been a contender,” he said after crossing the line here today. “I was already fairly battered when I got here,” he added.

This race heaped more torture on his already damaged carcass, “I bashed my feet on some rocks and think I may have broken a toe,” he said. “Really, you think you broke a toe?” I asked. “Let’s find,” he said as he sat down and pulled off his cycling shoes. “No,” he said as he examined his obviously abused feet, “But that toe nail is going to come off. And it’s just barely grown back from what I did to here last year!” And then there are his hands, which both bear blisters on top of the calluses he developed at R.A.W., despite him having taped them up, motocross racer style. “This course is fun, but it pounds your body in ways you’d never think possible,” he said, “You’ve got to be sharp all the time or there are going to be bad things happening—the rocks, the roots, the holes, it’s all tough.”

And then there are the large carnivores, “I saw a grizzly bear this morning, about a two-year-old, a scruffy little guy.” Morris sorta fed the bears early this morning too when a meal that he had in his pit didn’t sit well. “I’m almost a hundred and ninety pounds, so I need some real meals. I’d had a Mr. Noodles and a Coke, I had some rice mile and some chocolate covered espresso beans and about half-way up the first climb and—release the demons trail side! I felt a lot better after that. I even ended up doing a really fast lap afterward!”

But despite the toughness of this event he says that “We ain’t sweatin’ this twenty-four thing, because look what we did last month. After doing that 1100 mile event, this is like my cool-down, you know.” Still, Morris said that his race season is effectively over, “I need to heal up and recover completely. Last year I did this event and then two weeks later I did Trans-Rockies. Not this year.” But for a bike obsessive like Dallas Morris, the break between seasons is short, “The first cyclocross races of the season are at the end of the month,” he said with a gleam that revealed his true anticipation.