In the middle of a make-shift city of tents, RVs and other types of shelter, Drew Cook was just a guy in his pickup truck, trying to get a little shut-eye.
After all, in a bike race that lasts 24 hours, you take rest when you can get it.
Cook, a 27-year-old Tucsonan, was one of four members of a single-speed team competing in the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo mountain bike race, which began at noon Saturday and will end at the same time today.
The 12th-annual event is held northwest of Tucson at Willow Springs Ranch - located north on Oracle Road almost to Biosphere II, then add a left turn and take a dirt road 10 miles into the desert.
In other words, it's out where God lost his shoes.
But the obscurity of the place only makes its size more impressive.
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One of Cook's teammates, 28-year-old Alex Christensen, has been coming to this event for five years. He said this year is the biggest yet.
"They keep upping it a little bit, as far as the amount of people," Christensen said. "It's one of the biggest 24-hour races in the U.S., for sure."
Registration was capped at 1,850, but Christensen estimated that for every participant, there's at least one nonparticipant.
"A lot of people come out to win it, but some people just come out to party," said 22-year-old Paco Galvan, the third member of their four-man team. "We're kind of in the middle."
In fact, Galvan's team seemed to epitomize the event's true meaning - diversity.
For one thing, the foursome only recently came together. Galvan didn't even meet Christensen until Thursday, when he arrived in "24-Hour Town."
Cook, Christensen, Galvan and the fourth member, 24-year-old Noah Barker, are also competing without sponsors.
Instead of fancy jerseys or hats, Cook donned a flannel shirt and khaki shorts. Galvan wore a blue hoodie and a red bandanna over his face.
Call them the blue-collar riders, but they still came to compete.
"We didn't necessarily come to win," Galvan said. "We just came to go as hard as we can and see how we do. It's mostly just the fun and the atmosphere, and just to be a part of it all."
It's Galvan's first year competing, but he's heard plenty of stories about the atmosphere.
"A lot of the festivities will start happening once night rolls around," he said. "I'm sure the beer will start coming out.
"You gotta get your cards in, right?"
But the party doesn't seem rowdy. In fact, it's quite the family affair. Galvan said he saw riders on the 16.1-mile course as young as 10 and as old as 65.
Competing in teams is popular, but some riders even go solo, something Christensen said "would take some serious determination."
At least on a team you can ride a lap, which took Galvan roughly 1 hour 17 minutes, then wait your turn to go again. It's still not easy, but it's less intense than the alternative.
With a nearly four-hour gap between turns, sleep is an option, but Christensen said most riders go without it.
"When you're out here, it's hard to sleep. You're tired, but there's a lot of noise and you keep thinking you have to get up and go. It's hard to really relax.
"So, you just ride and ride and ride. You can go home and relax when it's over."
