12 Hours of Lodi Farms... a snippet before the full tale


the 12 hours of lodi farms was held this weekend past...

for those that do not know this is a grass roots mountain race in Fredericksburg Virginia
TeamBikeWorks 9th year of hosting this awesome event

this is a race that starts at midnight on a saturday night ending at noon on sunday the next day
run like a relay race
the team doing the most last wins
there are a variety of classes
in short.... one, two, or three person teams
I raced on a three person single speed team

I botched the race on my first lap
still at my camp slamming a GU with a RED BULL chaser I heard the announcer at the Start/Finish pit calling my number
as to be expected Chris Redlack put in a fast lap....
with the camping within shouting distance of the start/finish area I shouted that I was headed over
when I arrived Chris had already left for a second lap

for lap three... my first lap I was on time for the transition
I raced my lap with caution in the mud and on the slippery roots
it took great effort to complete a solid lap
I rolled into the start finish area turning off my HID light as so not to blind anyone
as I rolled in I shouted 107
scanned the bodies for our third racer Jonathan
shouted 107 again
started to panic that I would have to go out for a back to back lap
a tad panicked a tad confused
I shouted out 107 again
a body came running forward
a non-descript body dressed in cycling gear approached saying 107
taking the baton and heading out
I went back to my car and climbed on back of a bed two thermarests thick and put my legs up with the radio and the heat cranked
15 minutes into my inbetween laps rest session there was a face at my window
it was Jonathan
shirtless I jumped from the car
"where is the baton?"
"I need the batan!"
"I didn't give you the baton?"

I put a shirt on and went to the start finish

we sorted things out
we sent out our rider after 20 minutes in limbo
20 minute set back
pretty much botching our race in two sloppy transitions
one rookie mistake of being late to the transition
another unheard of mistake of passing the baton to a stranger from another team

we race hard to get back into the game
we worked our way back into third
then the fourth place team bumped us out
we fought back
but landed in fourth at the end of the race

it was a great event
race course and camping with friends
an odd site seeing all the laptops and portable televisions playing around the campground
but still plenty of socializing to be had

fatmarc
and his spot brand whores took first in the Single Speed Three Man Class
rickyd and chris were part of the three man team that took second
jonathan of the family bike shop was the captain of the third place team
more on this event to come

results photo of the Three Man SS Class at Lodi Farms
12 Hours of Lodi Farms