Amy, Deuce and myself loaded into the car for a week of hiking, biking and relaxing in NC, but first stop would be Fayetteville, TN for the 12hr race DSG. This was Deuce's first big road trip and he made the perfect travel buddy here he is a few hours into the trip
Safety first
A few nights before we left I started paying close attention to the weather down there. Rain, rain and more rain. Knowing what rain does to this trail from the first lap of last years race. I decided to run cross tires on my spare wheel set. Hoping if anything I would be able to at least push my bike around the course instead of dragging or carrying it. Never having done this before I was anxious to try it out. I rode around the trails for a few miles and decided I should try to run them tubeless.The next day I woke up bummed a tubeless stem off Fuzzy and with some trouble and a friendly neighbor with an air compressor I was finally able to mount the cross tires tubeless.
The race began with a Le Mans style start. I found my bike and was off. The conditions of the first lap were ok, wet and muddy but everyone was able to ride. My rear wheel went flat three times before I decided to throw a tube in it. Then about 100 yards later I dropped my chain. I was bummed but figured there were still over 11 hours still to go.
The second lap started to get sticky everything slowed down. Lots of people walking or stopped pulling mud off their bikes. I was able to ride most of the course. At one point I came up to Dicky pushing my bike up a hill. And he said something like "how is it possible that I'm hearing a rear wheel turning". A few minutes later my front tire blew out. Then a little later everytime I went to unclip to run up a hill my left foot would get stuck and I'd fall over. "Now what" I lost a bolt to my cleat "damn" so I rode with out clipping in untill I got out of the first section of woods and asked the first person I saw if he had a spare bolt. He did! he cleaned out my shoe and put in a new bolt. Thank you who ever you are.
A few min later I came up to DJ he was pushing his bike around looking defeated. I'm sure it didn't help things for him when I rode past him. I knew he wouldn't be too far out of first place. This is the point where I started thinking I might have a shot at winning this thing.
The third lap was worse people were comming at me trying to find a way out of this disaster. I was still able to ride a lot of the trail and what I couldn't ride I could at least push my bike through. I was passing people left and right that were either standing there in a daze, cleaning the mud off their bikes with hands and sticks, dragging their bikes through the mud or carring their bikes, some with wheels in one hand frame in the other. I went through that last year in the first lap and it was horrible this was some peoples 2nd or third lap! I don't know how the did it. A few miles in I cought up to Fuzzy (he was way ahead of any other SS rider I saw) walking next to his bike just chugging away. He looked surprised when I rode up to him,
he asked: what lap are you on?
Third, Its the cross tires not my fitness.
do you have any more that I can use?
no, I wish I did. Good luck
Third, Its the cross tires not my fitness.
do you have any more that I can use?
no, I wish I did. Good luck
About a min later we saw each other again on a swich back and Fuzzy asked me to have Mike Stanley set him up with cross tires. "alright" I said and continued on. The rest of the lap I was going back and forth in my head should I say something to Mike or not... I told Fuzzy I would so I'm going to... ahh that sucks he's probably going to catch me... I decided to stop and let Mike know Fuzzy needs cross tires It was only fair. By the time I got to the tents Fuzzy was already there getting everything going. He probably figured instead of finnishing his lap walking his bike it would be faster to stop where he was come in and change tires then go back out and finish his lap on cross tires.
The fourth lap more of the same about 3 hours of thick heavy mud any time the trail pointed up I would push my bike looking back every so often hoping like hell not to see Fuzzy back there. I passed Harlen Price at one point. We talked about just calling it quits at the end of this lap. He was in 2nd place in his class Pro open and I was sitting in 1st of my class Pro SS. We both just wanted it to be over and were hoping everyone else felt the same way. I came around to the tents and asked Fuzzys wife if she thought John would be up for just calling it a day or if he would keep going. She couldnt answer that so I went over to DJ and asked him the same question. "Its hard to say" "Just quit" Dicky says. Thanks guys
So I ride up to the start finnish line and talk to Bruce Dickman for a min and he sticks the mic in my face asking me whats on my mind. I mumble something about calling it a day and look over to see my wife Amy waving me on yelling at me that I had better go out for another lap. Does she even know what its like out there?
So I head out for my fifth lap not looking forward to it but if it means winning this thing and bringing home that $15oo check then I gotta do it. I ride around the field listening closely for Bruce to announce something about Fuzzy coming through.I dont hear anything so right before I head into the woods I ask a guy standing there if he has seen Fuzzy come out of the woods yet (the trail going into and out of the woods pass right by each other and there is about 2 miles to the start/finnish from this point and I'm hoping he is at least 2miles back) "no but I can't say 100% if he has or hasn't" ok so I sit there for a few min waiting for Fuzzy to come by... nothing then a golf cart comes up asking if everything is ok. I explain to them whats going on and the driver says hold on let me find out if Fuzzy has come through yet. they come back about four min later saying fuzzy completed his 4th lap and is headed out for his 5th. "F--k"! He must have snuck past Bruce and is close behind me. So I jump on my bike and go. Running up hills not wanting to look back just go! go! go! I pass Rebecka Tomaszewski
she is in the same boat racing to the finnish with someone hot on her tail. After a while I start thinking the golf cart guys were wrong and Fuzzy never went out for his 5th lap but still not sure I keep up a good pace. Fuzzy never catches me and I finnish before the sun goes down. High fiving Amy at the finnish line (someone took a photo of this and I would love to have it but can not find it) I go straight to the hose and wash up.
The fourth lap more of the same about 3 hours of thick heavy mud any time the trail pointed up I would push my bike looking back every so often hoping like hell not to see Fuzzy back there. I passed Harlen Price at one point. We talked about just calling it quits at the end of this lap. He was in 2nd place in his class Pro open and I was sitting in 1st of my class Pro SS. We both just wanted it to be over and were hoping everyone else felt the same way. I came around to the tents and asked Fuzzys wife if she thought John would be up for just calling it a day or if he would keep going. She couldnt answer that so I went over to DJ and asked him the same question. "Its hard to say" "Just quit" Dicky says. Thanks guys
So I ride up to the start finnish line and talk to Bruce Dickman for a min and he sticks the mic in my face asking me whats on my mind. I mumble something about calling it a day and look over to see my wife Amy waving me on yelling at me that I had better go out for another lap. Does she even know what its like out there?
So I head out for my fifth lap not looking forward to it but if it means winning this thing and bringing home that $15oo check then I gotta do it. I ride around the field listening closely for Bruce to announce something about Fuzzy coming through.I dont hear anything so right before I head into the woods I ask a guy standing there if he has seen Fuzzy come out of the woods yet (the trail going into and out of the woods pass right by each other and there is about 2 miles to the start/finnish from this point and I'm hoping he is at least 2miles back) "no but I can't say 100% if he has or hasn't" ok so I sit there for a few min waiting for Fuzzy to come by... nothing then a golf cart comes up asking if everything is ok. I explain to them whats going on and the driver says hold on let me find out if Fuzzy has come through yet. they come back about four min later saying fuzzy completed his 4th lap and is headed out for his 5th. "F--k"! He must have snuck past Bruce and is close behind me. So I jump on my bike and go. Running up hills not wanting to look back just go! go! go! I pass Rebecka Tomaszewski
she is in the same boat racing to the finnish with someone hot on her tail. After a while I start thinking the golf cart guys were wrong and Fuzzy never went out for his 5th lap but still not sure I keep up a good pace. Fuzzy never catches me and I finnish before the sun goes down. High fiving Amy at the finnish line (someone took a photo of this and I would love to have it but can not find it) I go straight to the hose and wash up.
Thanks to my Sponsors
Dieringer Custom Cycles
Swiftwick
Endura Clothing
and
Idutri.com
Now off to Saluda, NC for some fun.
2 comments:
Hey Chip,
Great job out there (even if you didn't "just quit" like I told you to).
5 laps??
Unnghhhh.
thanks dicky.
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