We assembled two 4-man squads for the 12 Hours of Tsali mountain bike race, the sport class. There would be Team Velosports Sqaud #1 and #2. I was on Sqaud #2. Each of our squads had one expert class racer (Billy McCracken and OJ Simpson). The rest of us are sport class racers. (For reference there is a beginning class and only one expert class racer can race on a Sport Team squad.)
We even had a national-local celebrity, David Hall from Deltec Homes, on Squad #1. Stupid me, at the time, didn't realize the true significance of David and what he has done to help others.
This was my first mountain bike race and I loved it! I had ridden about 4 or 5 times in the last 3 years. But, my skills from my first bike-love were still in tact. The rush of flying through the fast trails of Tsali were recalled from years ago.....didn't really have time to pay attention to the scenery though.
In those 12 hours I was able to get in 3 laps on the 10.5 mile course. Two of our teammates got in 4 laps. Each lap was an all out effort for me to maintain position and to get by as many other racers as I could. I only had one guy pass me on the course all day.....and he was on the winning Expert Class team.
On my first lap I started about 2 minutes behind one of my teammates on our other 4-man squad. On the last climb I saw Doug at the top and I closed the 20 second gap within the last 0.5 miles and we road in together and transitions with our respective teammates. The guys on my squad were happy to see that I had closed the gap to Doug.....which was a great way to prove myself in my first race. That helped us out a lot in our intra-team competition. From then on we were it (Team Velosports Sqaud #2) and podium bound as both of our squads were 3rd/4th in a field of 14 teams. After my 1st lap I ate and tried to take a nap. The "trying to take a nap" part was not a good idea.
I stared off my 2nd lap with tired legs and body. The nap was not a good idea. I hurt like crazy on the last two climbs. There was a sharp pain in my lower right side that kept my performance at bay. I even hit a root that was at a diagonal angle and it took me down, but I was able to soften my fall and get back on the trail. My 2nd lap was a bit faster than my first. Our squad was in a battle for 3rd and I put in 6 minutes on my Sycamore Cycles counter part rider. Our Team Velosports Squad #1 was dropping in the placings. So we started to strategize.
The 3rd lap would have me put on my lights and finish in the dark. I saw my Sycamore Cycles counter part on the trail side with a mechanical after he started two minutes ahead of me. So, I caught him and finished the night lap about 6 minutes in front of him. One of our teammates decided to not ride and we went to a 3-man team to maintain our 3rd place position.
Team Velosports takes 3rd place podium in the 12 Hours of Tsali! .....and gets some SWAG! One of our teammates sat out a lap so that we could stay in contention for the podium. This was my first podium in any event. Just does not seem like there are too many podium opportunities in road racing unless you are a Pro 1 2 category. So, there will be more mountain bike races in my future.
Thanks to Nathan Wyatt at Carolina Fatz (Team Sponsor) for letting me use the Orbea Occam. That was my first ride on a full suspension and the shifting was quick and snappy!Other results:
Nathan Wyatt did the 6 hour solo version of the race and placed 3rd! This boy is strong. Andy Applegate's team of two finished 3rd in the 12-hour expert class race. And team BioWheels had great results. Asheville racers are strong!
Bloopers:
OJ finishes the night coming across the line swearing that a bat had become lodged in his helmet.
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