Team Wrong Way Teams (I'm not sure if the "Free Agent" team had more that one TWW rider who was Mike S),, But in any case the 4 fastest teams overall had TWW riders on them. (Inspite of the Fast Mo Fo's losing their Anchor Rider for an Hour), But I think by virtue of starting the 12th lap they finished ahead of all the Non-TWW teams..

Summary: 1st Fast Old Farts 8:10 (Multiplying my laps times by 3 =8:27)
TWW SS, 8:19
Free Agents 8:36
Fast MoFo's 9 Something.

Congratulations to all.

8 Hour Race, 2K

I haven't been to a Billy Cross since 1997. I'd been MTB racing for 2 months, I flatted 2 miles into the race, couldn't fix it, hiked back to the car switched wheels, went out not an HOUR down and rode out the two laps of my Beginner race, to finish as the first and ONLY 45+ Beginner. They delayed the awards ceremony for me to show up! At that time I thought the course was very intimidating. I still think it's very difficult.

Even though I really enjoyed to experience of racing there in 97, I'd never been back for various reasons, Full road racing seasons and the fact that it's such a TREK to get there. (Now it's Monday Morning, after dragging myself into work I remember exactly why I don't go up there a lot!)

I rolled up about 520PM on Sat. as the heat of the day was breaking. I went out for a preride and wanted to do two laps but it was getting late, I finally noticed a point (1 of many) where the outward and inward bound trails past. The lower part of the course had nothing that needed extensive practice! . (How many ways are the to run up a steep hill with you bike on your shoulder!).

The way the course was marked Saturday Night think we did an extra mile. I think that for a technical course it is very safe, in that you can always just SLOW DOWN to get out of trouble. Anybody can ride it if they just get off and walk the parts that are beyond their capabilities.

I managed to make it back to the parking lot by 745pm. I had discovered that the other TWW cars were over by the Shelter where Billycross race headquarters usually is.

One of the effects, of none of the Team Wrong Women not being present, was that there was no potluck, no organized BBQ, etc. Everyone had their Subway or other Deli sandwich of choice in hand. I had brought a loaf of bread and a can of tuna. Anyhow we had a good time watching the meteor shower.

730 or 745 everybody was up staggering around. Even though it appeared at 955 that nothing was prepared to start, KC managed to roll off the event at 10:05 by my watch.

We started Peter Rudnick for the Fast Old Farts Team. (Seery named the team; I had nothing to do with it). Pete SCORCHED the first lap with a 34:11 or so. Only one of the single speed TWW riders (Mike) managed faster 33: + change. The upshot was that we were in 2nd place. (HMMM this unexpected). Scott was going out next, so I went about getting ready.

Scott pulls in from his lap ahead of the TWW/SS rider. I take off thinking, (Oh, man now that were leading this thing I have to take it seriously!). I think I rode the arcing corner a lot better than three years ago, the Ravine Crossings and the off-camber downhill wash boards are another story. When I finished we now had about a 5minute lead on just about anybody!

This race was like riding 3 all out 6 miles Time Trials with about 2 hours in between to recover. It seemed like, as soon as I'd start to relax, Scott would be going back out and I'd only have 38 minutes to get ready again. . And the fact that we were doing well raised the stress level; I didn't want to be the one to BLOW IT. I went as hard at I could where I knew that I would gain time and everywhere else tried to avoid doing anything stupid.

A lot of the descents had off camber washboard sections, they didn't bother me as much as in 97, but I knew I was going too slow, but trying to go faster usually resulted in coming to a complete stop when I went off course, so I settled in to ride the way I knew to get me back to the start.

The other Time Trial aspect of this was that I NEVER passed or was passed by another rider for the WHOLE RACE. Which probably means I was riding at a very AVERAGE speed for the race as a whole.

On lap two I did 41:30, but Loren Thomas did about a 37 so the MoFo's took about 4 minutes out of our lead. (From 14 minutes back to 10). It hovered at 10 until Rudnick went out and turned another 36 [pushing it back to about 13 minutes. I went out for my third laps determined to at least clean the last two of the ugly ravine crossing. Trouble was the approaches were getting more and more chewed up. I came to almost a complete stop and the crossing that had WATER in it and almost made it, but had to waddle over the crest. (I actually cleaned it once on Saturday). I finally managed to clean the last ravine.

The hike a bike at the bottom of the course was a drag, but to be honest I bet my times would have been a lot worse (compared to everyone else) with out it because I was shouldering my bike and running up it.

The last lap finally ended and we were still ahead, now it was just a matter of waiting for Charles to finish his lap. Which he did just about when we expected him.

Since we expected to sweep the podium, a bunch of us went over to the finish hill to welcome the two Marks to the finish. After about 13 minutes, Mark Davidson showed up on his singlespeed and made great grunts and groans on the last climb (He said he would have walked it if we hadn't been there cheering!).

But the other Mark did not show up so soon, and after 30 minutes Scott, Nick, and KC were organizing a kind of search effort. After awhile reports surfaced that he'd been seen going THE WRONG WAY towards the lack.

KC was going to get the Rangers to open a gate so he could drive down, but then we got a report that Mark was in sight coming up the canyon. KC and Nick finally made contact and brought him back up. He had endoed one of the creek crossings and knocked himself out for a few minutes. Then he come to a course marker than had be run over and knocked around pointing the wrong way, so he had apparently gone to the lake and was walking back up, but had gotten disoriented and repeated a couple of loops. Except for the concussion and some road rash he seemed OK however.

The podium ceremony was pretty late, but Mark D got pictures. Great Job by EVERYONE!

Race Report by Robert Ouye

This is a great event! I enjoyed the race course and the camaraderie of all that attended. We completed 12 laps, three laps per rider. Lead rider Mike Urbina was awesome. He consistently cranked out fast times and led the first lap overall. I went second and had a difficult time, nearly blowing chunks. On my 2nd and 3rd laps I tried to keep my heart rate from going ballistic which meant slowing down and even walking some of the steeper pitches. Peter "don't let Loren pass me" Sterlacci, third in the rotation, had Loren breathing down his neck for laps 2 and 3, and did a great job of holding him off. Mark Davidson had a mechanical which cost him nearly 10 minutes on his 2nd lap, came back to give us his fastest lap as the anchor man, and secure 2nd place among TWW teams. Great job you guys!

This was the 2nd ride on my newly built single speed and despite being out of shape, I had a blast on the Lake Sonoma course. Thanks to Kenny, Billy Cross event organizer for putting on a challenging and fun race at a great venue. http://www.billycrossracing.com/ Robert

Race Report by Nick Relampagos

Or should I say, Team Wrong Way 8 Hour..... Tuck the kids in bed, go use the bathroom and get a cup of coffee because this is gonna be a long one! This might even qualify for a rant.

Race Started out great with Pete, Mike Urbina and myself at the start. All three of us got to the singletrack first, Pete and Mike were on a blistering pace and I was holding the others off. The course was hard pack with alot of loose turns which my semi-knobs rejected to, this course included the long loop/hike a bike section. After my first lap I threw my IRC Mythos front on and my Nano Raptor on the rear, AHHH releif, I can carve a turn now. By the way, the Santa Cruz Superlight did it's justice by being able to pedal through the flat and rocky sections and no pinchflats!

Between rounds we were hanging around the tent that Mark brought up which was a good haven to rest relax and warm up on Pete's Auto Bike. It was also a good place to showcase my newly found talent, the Keith White one handed trackstand. I raised the bar when someone shouted out "Now do it with no hands!" I was able to oblige them with my first time ever "Nick R. no handed trackstand" where's Mark with his camera!

How the HELL does a bunch of guys with a combined age of 155+ get a 10-15 minute lead on the Fast MOFO's not to mention race for the overall fastest combined time?

We were actually dicing it out with Team Single Speed, all those guys were putting in some good times with Mike Urbina smoking up the course. We managed to stay within minutes of them and with our boy wonder, Mr. T, Loren Thomas putting in some consistant 36 and 37 minute laps. Mark Davidson and Mark Ong (my buddy which I convinced that same Friday to race since Ryan Murphy hurt his shoulder) took off within seconds of each other on the final lap before the 8hr mark. This was for the second place bragging rights since Team SS was in their own single speed class which they got first place in. We all went out to the hill climb back to see who was leading. From afar you could tell that Mark Davidson was hammering up the hills passing some other riders, we thought that our Mark was right behind him but it was another rider in a red jersey. We saw Mark O. going through the Wrong Way loop and he disappeared through the trees. We counted a couple of minutes and he didn't come out of the trees, the rider from the Free Agents went through the loop behind him and he came up the hill, we asked him if he saw Mark and he said he was going the other way.

This is where it gets interesting. (this is Marks recap)

Mark Ong was working hard to catch up to Mark Davidson so after the Wrong Way loop he went through the last creek crossing faster than he should have, he slid and got thrown over and into the gully and fell head first on a rock. Big gouge on his Richey helmet, knot on his head and big scrapes on his arms and legs. He was knocked out and when he woke up he was still clipped in. He was disoriented and went "The Wrong Way" down the road. He went down the fire road and towards the lake. We went out to search for him and couldn't find him. He finally popped his head out at the Wrong Way Loop again. Ken the race organizer and I finally got to him and helped him back up the hill.

This is where it gets confusing.

Once the awards were presented, which by the way Team Wrong Way should have brought a dust pan because we sweeped! Yeah Babay! We took third...;'( I don't understand?

When I talked to Ken and asked if Marks lap counted, he said yes, as long as he crosses the finish line, which he did in grand fashion. All of the Team Wrong Way riders were behind him on the singletrack leading to the finish line screaming "We got the Ibis back"! Kodak Moment, everyone was cheering. We completed 12 laps and the Free Agents completed 11 if I'm correct that would have landed us in 2nd place. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. If that final lap didn't count, then we would have still finished with 11 laps and if we compared our 11 lap time with the Free Agents 11 lap time, we would have still taken 2nd place. I didn't really care about the mixup when it happened because I was more concerned about Mark bleeding on my Leather interior in my Tahoe....I mean Marks condition. I'll leave it at that and you won't hear another word from me about this because I know that Myself, Rich, Loren and Mark all kicked ass in that race.

I'm sure Mark D. will have some awesome pics of the race. By the way, Mark Ong is doing great, no sore neck, no headache and his Ibis Silk Ti is ok!

Nick

Race Report by Mike Urbina

I arrived at the campground on Saturday waay too early, about 2:30 pm. I thought it would take me longer to get there from S.J. but was obviously wrong. So what does one do in 100 degree heat, not so much as a breeze and no one to talk to? Why, go swimming of course!

Unloaded the bike and off I went to the lake - it was great.

People started to trickle in around 5 and set up camp. Peter S., Mark, Rich, Mike, Colin (a free agent who ended up riding with The Free Agents) and myself went out for a pre ride - course seemed a bit bumpier than I remember but was fun as always. You never get this much cool single track in a race. I tried to get the team to go swimming afterward but they didn't want to mess up their hair.

That night there was beer and meteor showers and a moon so bright you almost needed sunglasses. As this was my first single speed race I wasn't exactly sure what to expect - especially how I was going to get to the first corner in a decent position. We went off at 10:05 and I just spun as fast as I could to the first turn. Pete R. got by and Nick probably would have but let me into the single track before him (thanks). Great, I'm in 2nd, then Pete pulls to the side of the trail with a dropped chain and I inherit the lead. Winding through the single track I'm having a blast and pulling out a bit of a lead by half distance. The course starts to climb and things get painful quick- got to keep that momentum up on this bike or you're dead in the water. Just before the hike a bike section Pete R. is closing fast and it's a foot race to the top. Through the last downhill section I just hung it out, getting pretty squirrely in a few spots but managed to hold off Pete (barely!) My other 2 laps weren't quite as eventful as the field spread out and it got HOTTER. The rest of the team turned in good, consistent laps with a real nail biter between Peter S. and Loren on their last go-round. Mark Ong gave us a bit of a scare when he disappeared in the Burmuda Tree-angle and didn't come out. Luckily he emerged about an hour later pretty beat up, but alive. Did you take the Advil like I told ya?

Would I do another S.S.race? You bet! Besides, Keith W. is getting one and I need another shot at him before he retires to raise kids. Oh yea, Ken and Paula RULE! Get out to their next race.

Mike U.

Race Report by Peter Sterlacci

What a great day!!! Even though the TWW turnout was far less than last year and the overall turnout was pretty low, it was a fantastic race. The heat was not as bas as expected and by everyone's 3rd lap there was even a cool breeze (still didn't matter much on that ridiculous hike-a-bike section)

This was my first race on a singlespeed and I always heard that Lake Sonoma is the best course for using one. The pre-ride the night before made me realize just how important momentum would be and ust how difficult it would be on certain sections. However, I had a blast on the pre-ride and expected good things for the race. Without the TWW ladies present, we all had simple dinners -- sandwiches and anything that guys can boil in water real quick. The evening was topped off with meteor showers and beer!!

On race day our team automatically voted Mike Urbina as the lead man and thank God we did. It was impressive to see a guy on a SS cruise up that first road climb and drop into the singletrack in the 2nd position. It was even more impressive to see him in the lead and be the first person in on the first lap in 33 minutes. On my laps I would look at my watch when it hit 33 minutes and knew that I still had at least 6-7 minutes to go. Unbelievable. Glad Mike was on our team. Robert, Mark, and I pulled relatively consistent laps until Mark had a mechanical on lap 2, but he made up for it on his last lap and was in a head-to-head battle with a geared bike. He pulled through and had a very cool finish. Loren and I had this little 'competition' going as he was doing a great job closing the gap between our teams and I was doing all I could to keep him behind me. I managed to do it on Laps 2 & 3, but barely. Our team was a guaranteed 1st as we were the only full-on SS team, but we also managed to come in 2nd overall for the day. Not bad for 4 guys with 4 gears between them. Now I have the gold metal to complete my Lake Sonoma set.

Would I race again on a SS? You bet!! It was a blast. Once again, the Billy Cross events are great and the organizers are just cool people.

Peter

Race Report by Mike Schoellkopf

What can I say, another great weekend at the races. The Billycross series is my favorite (of course I've only been in 4 races ever) and with this my 2nd time there I was now familiar with the course. This time I brought beefier tires and was much more confident on the loose stuff on the pre ride. I found a racer without a team by the name of Colin on Saturday and offered him a spot on our team, The Free Agents, and he gladly accepted. Since none of my other teammates (Chris, Mike A., and Jeremy) were showing up until Sunday morning with some doubt as to whether they all could make it, and since both K.C. and the web site said there were 5 riders allowed per team I thought it would be better to have 5 riders than to risk having only 3. After registering our team at around 9:30 without Jeremy, Jeremy shows up at 9:45 so off we go to register him on the Free Agents. Now the story has changed however with only 4 person teams allowed. Well Jeremy, Mike A., and Chris are all good friends and really want to race on the same team so after getting an OK from everyone else we get to have a 5 person team. Next time I'll know better and have the rules in writing.

Well we all had pretty good laps except that Chris, having never pre rode the course missed the first turn onto single track and went all the way to the lake before realizing it and had to climb back up to the start to get back on course. He had us all wondering if he was having mechanical problems. Still managed to make it in around 55 minutes and on his next two laps was very fast with times around 37 minutes. Chris, Mike A., and Jeremy were the fast ones in our team with lap times consistently around 37 minutes while Colin and I were doing 46-48 minute laps. I'll have to work on my hill climbing as I think this is where I was loosing all my time. We had a few crashes. I fell over on one of the climbs out of the creek crossings and Mike A. went over the bars but with minimal injuries and a broken barrel adjuster on Mike's left shifter.

There was a lot of time to hang out and relax during the race and there was a lot of socializing going on which was pretty cool but with a 5 person team there seemed to be a little too much time off between laps. I started to see the reasoning behind a 4 person team.

Things got more interesting near the end with the two TWW Marks leaving the start neck and neck but when Mark Ong didn't appear at the finish we all started to get concerned. When my teammate Chris reported that he passed him going the wrong way we knew he was in trouble and a search was started. It appeared to Chris that Mark Ong was looking for someone on the course and he didn't think he was in trouble. In retrospect he probably should have stopped to check if he was OK but during the heat of the moment you're not really thinking too clearly. Our apologies to Mark and the MoFo's. The previous postings detailed the specifics of Mark's accident and we are all glad that he made it out without too serious an injury. Here's to a speedy recovery for Mark.

Well it turned out with Mark wandering on the course The Free Agents finished the 12th lap before MOFO's even though they had a large lead going into that lap so we took 2nd. It was an unexpected and bittersweet 2nd place but we weren't about to turn it down. Congratulations to all the TWW participants, especially The Fast Old Farts - how DO they do it?

Mike Schoellkopf

Race Report by Mark Davidson

I was an aprehensive contender. I was thinking of bailing a week before the race. My last race was Bogg's 2 and it's been so long since I rode a singlespeed that I had a fear of leaving my lungs on the course. However, after riding the SS last Tuesday at Alpine road I realized I'm in better condition than I thought. I commited to the race and the SS team late in the game and I got a ride up in Rich's van with Peter Sterlachinpokemon.

We arrived at Lake Sonoma greeted by Mike Urbina. Soon after Charles Price drove in, followed by Mike S, Collin (free agent), "Duct Tape" Dave Longnotti, Loren and Robert.

The pre-ride was confirmed my dread. It was hot and I was pushing the bike up a lot of hills. My gearing was the highest on the team at 2-1 and just a little too tall for this course. I'm no tough guy, I'm just stupid and unprepared. The course was twisty and choppy like I remembered it. I was thankfull that I replaced a "semi-rigid" 50 mm Mag 21 for a plush 63 mm 98 SID the night before. Ok, so I'm not so unprepared.

In the absence of women, all the guys revert to their caveman instincts. We had a simple "fend for yourself" meal the night before. Mike S mentioned that the meteor shower was supposed to be the best this month and we hung out, drank beer, farted and watched the light show. That's probably how the cavemen did it - except that they drank fermented roots instead of beer. There were some spectacular meteors out there. Smoke trails and bright lights. Much better than "Laser Kenny Loggins" by far.

The next day Nick and family arrived with Mark Ong, Pete and Scott came in the magical bus and the TWW teams were complete. Pete set up his autobike in his windtrainer and we all used it to warm within the shade of the EZ-up. Great idea Pete! Nick gave me his set of WTB Motoraptors and I replaced my semi-slicks. I reversed the rear tire to give myself some added traction. I was impressed at how light the Motos were for a 2.1 knobby tire.

I was the anchor of the SS team - in fact, I called myself "the barnacle" on the anchor since I felt that I would be dragging the rest of the team down. Mike had a very strong first lap. Damn! I have to race now. Robert's felt pretty sick after his first lap and I was scared that I was going to die on the course.

My first lap was the worst. I started out strong but I didn't want to over do it. The course was fun up untill the evil, searing heat hike a bike. The course would have been perfect if they would have eliminated it. The hike a bike broke my spirit and I started to feel queezy. I ate too soon before riding and felt like puking. I was surprised that I was riding a lot more of the climbs that I walked on the pre-ride. The motos really hooked up. The added traction gave me a lot more confidence so I wasn't using the brakes as much. I came in and was feeling better than I expected to be.

I continued my strategy of staying off the the brakes on my second lap. It worked too well. On one choppy downhill section, the bike was bucking wildly and bounced my chain off. I tried putting it on beside the trail but it was pretty difficult. When a singlespeed loses it's chain, there isn't enough slack to snake it past the cranks. I realized that fixing it meant that I had to remove the rear wheel so I rolled down the hill to the nearest shade and went to work. Mark Ong passed me putting the Fast Mofos in front of us. The chain mishap delayed me for about 7-10 minutes.

Once again the hike-a-bike sapped my will. The sun beat down hard on my back it was miserable. I made a lot of little mistakes on the climbs after the hike-a-bike but I was going much faster on the downhill sections. I was really feeling the heat of the second lap. My legs were threatening to cramp up. I came back in and was feeling dizzy from the heat.

Loren looked really fresh and he told me that he took a shower and changed his clothes. What a great idea! I took a shower and put on clean bike shorts and socks. I drank a lot of cytomax, massaged my legs and rested. I did a CliffShot 5 minutes before my estimated start time. I was ready for my final lap!

Out of the staging area and onto the fire road, I saw a Team Richey rider ducking into the single track. I wanted to keep him in sight. Pretty soon I caught up to him and was on his tail. He didn't make a lot of the creek crossings and slowed me down. However, he did motivate me to climb a lot more of the hills that I walked up in the previous two laps. My oportunity to pass him came on the same downhill that I lost my chain. I was chasing him, forcing him to go faster. He slipped a little and I nearly ran into him. He seemed really tired. He got back on and tried to get some distance on me. I was bearing down on him and he took another tumble and tumbled off the trail. It looked nasty but he landed in some tall grass. It was pretty spectacular! I stopped to ask if he was OK and he said "I'm OK, go for it!" After the race he came up to me to thank me for motivating him. He could hear my grunting behind him and he felt good that he wasn't the only person suffering so much.

I continued the same pace that the Richey rider set for me and I caught up with a guy named Brian - who was on a two man team. He was going a reasonable pace and offered to let me pass him. I declined since my legs were twiching - I just wanted to go at his pace. We both climbed the hike a bike together and it was actually pleasurable. It was a few degrees cooler and the sun was low. We had a great conversation while we were pushing our bikes and it took my mind off the climb. Pretty soon we were at the top and I didn't even notice it. The wind blast over the top of the hill cooled me down and Brian and I were trading places through the rest of the lap. My legs were really twitching so I got off the bike before the fireroad climb before Wrong Way loop and walked. I didn't stop moving while relaxing my legs and I did another Clif Shot. I caught up to Brian again and kept a good pace. I heard a crowd cheering me on and I knew that the end of of the lap was near.

On the flat section I kept pace and passed Brian. I wished him luck. I raged on the last two downhill sections trying to keep the momentum up the climb. I got off the bike at the steep part and walked. K.C and a group of TWWers were encouraging me so I picked up the pace to a light jog. I jumped back onto the bike and pedaled really hard to get me up the final climb. The rest of the TWW'ers were cheering me on wildly and that encouraged me to stay on the bike. I almost lost my balance and my foot came unclipped but I recovered and cranked. The crowd was going mad! It felt great. I rode hard into staging area and sat down to recover.

As you know from Nick's account, Mark Ong was MIA and brought a little tension to the end of the day. He was in good spirits after his little adventure.

I went into the race feeling that I missed the Downieville train and wasn't really in the spirit of the race. However, over the course of the day, I realized that I was having fun. At the end of the day I was glad I came. Good people and good sports were all around. The turnout was small but K.C. wasn't too disappointed. He didn't realize that Downieville was going to be the same weekend when he originally planned the event. He mentioned that even a lot of the local riders went to Downieville. He really appreciated our participation in the event.

Thanks to Billy Cross Racing for putting on a fun and reasonably priced event. I definitely got way more than a six pack of fun out of it. Thanks to all my team mates and Gigi at the end of my race. Your cheering and encouragement really helped me up those hills. Thanks to Nick for bringing fresh meat to the slaughter.

--Mark

Race Report by Loren Thomas

I started out the weekend with a sinus cold, but my commitment to the team was strong and I planned to race anyway. I always enjoy camping, so I headed up north on Saturday accompanied by Robert Ouye. The meteor shower was a special treat. Best star gazing I've ever done! Raceday: Small turnout..darn. Mike U. and Pete R. turned in some incredible lap times. I've got a lot of work to do:) I hammered my first lap and didn't think I would have anything for the rest of the day. After cooling down I started to prepare for the next lap. I filled my Camelbak with about twice as much water as I needed, but proceeded to "sip" on it in the moments before I went out. Time for lap two: I felt good, and inspired by Scott's account of his second lap I hammered even harder on the first section of the course. That put me on the ground once, but didn't hurt my concentration much. It was at the end of the first section, about 10 min into the course where my rookie standing was demonstrated. I was out of water! Now this was serious. I had thoughts of passing out from the heat. All I could think about was WATER, don't sweat, don't spit, slow down. This situation was really playing with my concentration. I worked through it and was surprised to turn in a ~37:30. Last lap, I had a lot more confidence. I let a few PSI out of the front tire to help me through that first section. It worked. I nailed the first section. Now all I had to do was keep a good pace back up the canyon. I spotted Peter at the hike-a-bike. He says he waved from the top, but I was too busy to notice. By the time I reached the top, Peter was long gone. I kept up the pace, hoping to catch him on the last few climbs. Next time I spotted him, I realized I had a chance since he was hiking up the climbs. I forced myself to climb middle ring and closed the gap substantially. The last climb (~100ft) was the only separator. I think I came in about 10 seconds behind him. That last lap was perfect, but it was only 37:26. I though I had beat my first lap, but I guess there is just no substitute for being completely fresh. Of course, all this excitement took its toll and I had to take a sick day come Monday morning. A lot of rest, and I still feel pretty crappy, but it was worth it. Peter, Robert and I are now ready to join the rest of our 24 hour of Tahoe team and give TWW the best representation we have to offer.

Race Report by Rich Henthorn

Well, by now you've heard about the results, the so-so dinner instead of a fantastic potluck, the meteor shower, etc. So I'll just fill in a few spots.

On my first lap (I was batting #2 in the lineup) I made a few mistakes. One time I drifted off the trail during one of the twisty, flat 1-track sections that turn back on itself a couple times. Another couple of times I was in too big a gear for one of the quick rises that occur right after a descent. I finished the lap in around 42 minutes. Gawd, am I slow. Plus, I was really tired after one lap. More than what I should have been in my estimation, given that I just raced here 3 weeks before.

Lap 2. I decided to relax a little more and try to anticipate a little better. Result: I was almost always in the right gear this time. Plus, I had way more fun. Slower time. But, this is when the MOFOS overtook Team Ritchey. I passed their rider in the shady area that passes under a thick, very low hanging tree branch before the "new section" begins. After I passed the guy, he asked me how much I weighed? I guess he was satisfied with my answer, cause he just said "OK". Later, I passed some other guy who had like 3 large tattoos of women in various stages of nakedness. Nice artwork.

Lap 3. Same strategy as lap 2. Have fun. Same time as lap 2, as well. Came in and gave Loren the go-ahead, he seemed anxious to bridge the gap to the single-boys. I went to the TWW tent and started to relax. Mark Ong was telling me his strategy. (Paraphrasing) "I'm going to hammer until I blow, then drag myself in the rest of the way". Hmmmm. I suggested he should just relax and have some fun, instead. I had no idea he'd go over the way he did.

Nick is trying real hard to dispel this notion that he can't track stand very well. Actually, it's not a track stand when your hopping around like that, but you know what I mean. The "no-hands" trick was pretty impressive since it appeared like it was the first time he'd tried it. Sunday was not only a day of glory for Pete Rudnick, it was his forty-something'th birthday. What a good boy.

-Rich