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| Chasing HardTail |
This years Burn 24 hour challenge was great. Again we arrived in the rain, setup the tents in the rain, and enjoyed muddy trails with super slippy roots. However this year we came prepared. I cannot express enough how important preperatoin is on 24 hour races. From food to fans, from wallets to wheels you have to prepare.
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| Zach's Uncle's killer Lightspeed with custom deer skull |
Camp
Last year we only had one Easyup tent and no tables and no fans. This year we brought 4 easy ups, two fold out tables, six coolers, multiple camp chairs, and our secert weapon, General Robert E Breeze.
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| Tim awaits Zach's Tag with Bucky and the Hat |
Riders
Zach the Macho Man Riggins started for us on the lamans sprint around the lake. He tagged up with Tim (who was happy to not have to ride an extra lap this year) and rocked it back to tag out with Bucky for the 1st full timed lap. Bucky’s first lap was brutal. The noon day sun was beating us and Bucky got a little bulemick at the half way point (2x) and then 4x more times in the camp. Next I jumped on my trusted stead for a “feeler” lap (that is how I justify my speed) and then Zach rounded us out and putting us a solid 4 laps and 4 hours into the race.
There’s always next year…
This would become our new team moto as personal goals were abandoned and our team goal of 24 laps in 24 hours became more fantasy then reality. In our defense the field was stacked this year, “The 2011 B24 saw record lap times, both day and night! Julia Tellman peeled off the fastest laps among female competitors. Her fast day lap was timed at 41:15.547 followed by a lap in the dark at 44:44.543. Julia earned $150 from Boone Bike & Touring and a Seca 700 from Light & Motion. Not a bad haul for two fast laps! The dude’s competition was tight! Bradford Perley scored the fast day lap with a time of 33:16.121. Defending fast lap winner Tristian Cowie turned a 33:18.606 followed by Bradford’s teammate, Sott Fredrick at 33:25.120. Those cats were smokin’ it! Bradford scored $150 from Boone Bike & Touring for his effort. Alex Ryan turned an impressive lap under the cover of darkness that would typically rival any fast day lap. He was timed at 35:18.688 and took home a retina scorching Seca 700 from Light & Motion for BURNing up the night. It’s worth mentioning that Alex comes from the same team as Bradford and Scott Fredrick. These guys along with their Champion System/Cannondale teammates set a new record in the 3 – 5 man category turning 40 laps overall.”
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| View of the camp ground from atop the dam at B24 |
Results
Tim gets mad props for posting both the best day and night (true dark) laps for our team. I think we were all a little down that no one has broken a 50min lap in 2 years but …There’s always next year. Finally the most incredible thing ever happened. Bucky set a Burn 24 hour challenge. I am still awaiting an official email reply from the RD but I am tentatively claiming that Bucky finished the race closer to the final cutoff of the final lap then anyone else in history. To put this in perspective the race ends at 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Bucky finished at 12:59:41 p.m. giving him a nice 19 second cushion .
