Burning Up The Weekend

Moving backwards on my five day weekend, now I’ll talk about what I did on Sunday.  After spending lots of family time on bikes, I decided to head up to Dark Mountain to cheer on (and heckle) the folks that were racing the Burn24.

My first stop in Tent City was to pay a visit to the Dirt Divas team, and drop off some ice on a hot day.  I didn’t let the heat get to me though.

I tried my best to be cool.

Photo cred:  Doc

They were waiting for a teammate to come in from a lap, then the plan was to ride one more.  Instead of letting one go out alone on her last lap, three of them did it together:

While they were out on the course, I made my rounds to talk to pretty much everyone I could find out there, and it was cool to hear the stories from their individual races.  When it came time for the ladies to get out of the woods, I made my way to the trail exit to get a few photos.

It was really fun to hang out at a race that I didn’t race, and I enjoyed talking to everyone out there.  I even ran into D-Wayne, who promptly offered me a beer.  I politely declined and he wondered what the hell was wrong with me.

Well, I didn’t go up there just to spectate.  I wanted to get in a ride of my own, so I took my single speed to the nearby Overmountain Victory Trail for a little alone time.

It was my first time there on the SS, and I loved it.  Other than a few hikers, I pretty much had the trail to myself.  It was just what I needed for sure.

Big thanks to the Dirt Divas for letting me hang out with them.  They rocked it out there.

I’ll keep working my way through last weekend’s adventures (backwards of course.) 

See y’all tomorrow. 

Into The Night

While Lunchbox and I waited for Little Miss Sunshine to come back from her lap, we knew it would be getting dark soon. Instead of wasting time changing back into my riding clothes to get out on the trail for more photos, we came up with a plan. I remembered a spot where the trail comes out with a view of the parking lot. We high-tailed it over there and I got a practice shot.



After a very short while, she came by. It was a lot quicker than I expected, so I didn’t really have time to get the camera ready. This is all I got:



She was flying down the trail, and had a huge smile on her face. With race jitters no longer a factor, she disappeared into the mountain. With no more opportunities to photograph her without actually riding the trail, I rode around the camp to shoot the shit with my cycling pals. After checking the time, I setup shop at the bottom of the last downhill section. I waited, but I had no idea how long it would be. Every person coming down the trail was going so fast that it was hard to tell who it was. After recognizing a familiar face, I snapped a photo of the Bike Shop Girl.



The sun was setting, which meant that the trail was getting dark. A look out into the field would make you think that there was plenty of light:



But, the trail was much different:



I knew that Little Miss Sunshine would be okay, since she had plenty of high-powered lighting attached to her person and her bike. However, the darkness made it increasingly difficult to see anyone until after they went by. Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted out, “She’s coming down right behind me!” It was the Space Cowboy, fresh off another one of his solo laps. He was right, because moments later I got this photo:



I hopped on my bike, and hauled ass to the finish line. I got there first, since the racers had to take the long way. LMS had caught up to the Gangster of Love (c’mon, you all know that Steve Miller Band song), and I got them both crossing the finish line.



She survived, even smiling as she crossed the finish line. She had a good lap, and capped off a day of riding for her team. We hung out with the ladies for a bit, but Lunchbox and I had to head back to Charlotte for the night to take care of our dogs and get some sleep.



I would return in the morning, but it was a little late to see the Mrs. ride her second lap. She was determined to ride in the daylight, and she did it. She crashed and acquired a few more cuts, scrapes, and bruises, but it was all worth it. The end result? They all had a blast. A few people got hurt, but they will all ride again. They camped, they rode, they swapped stories, and in the end the ladies survived their first 24 hour endurance race. The icing on the cake was the fact that they got on the podium, for a third place finish.




The other Diva team got second, and they worked hard for it too. It was cool to watch the ladies give it their all. I’m also thankful to them for letting me hang around all weekend for support. It was fun to be a spectator, since I don’t get to do it very often.


I got in a few rides out there myself, so maybe I can share that pretty soon. Well, with only one day left in the week I guess I had better get my shit together. See you tomorrow.

24 Hours Of Fun And Suffering

This is not my race report, but since I was there I figured what the hell. Little Miss Sunshine and her team of Dirt Diva were all doing their first 24 hour race. It was a big deal, since none of them have ever done anything close to that. With a difficult course, tons of people on the course, and nerves getting in the way, it would be a challenge for everyone involved. I was happy to be there for support, and to watch these ladies give it their all.




Lunchbox and I arrived at Tent City around 11:00 a.m., just in time to see everyone getting ready for the 12:00 p.m. start. It would be a Le mans-type start, with the riders running a lap around the campsite before they hopped on their bikes. I found a few of our locals there, including last year’s winner Eric Hagerty:



The Space Cowboy was there, doing his first-ever 24 Hour Solo race:



The MadSS was present and accounted for, enjoying the short run before he tortured himself with his one-geared bike on the mountain:



I even caught a glimpse of the elusive Bike Shop Girl as she got ready to head out on the course.



As the first group took off, we headed back to camp. The Dirt Divas pit area was full of activity, since there were two five person teams in the mix. Little Miss Sunshine was set to go out last, so she chatted it up with the rest of the women. Lunchbox was standing by too:



After what seemed like only a few minutes, Eric came in for a pit stop.



It had rained quite a bit in the days leading up to the race, so I heard that the trail was a little sloppy. Most of the riders didn’t look too bad though, so I figured it would dry up fairly quickly. Despite the slightly sloppy conditions, Dirt Diva Patty Smith (from the other team) came flying by the pit area. She completed her first lap at a quick pace.



The MadSS was all smiles after completing one lap, even though he got beat by a small child that wasn’t even racing:





So yeah, things were going okay for the most part. One of the women on the 2nd Diva team had a little mishap on her lap, so it took a while longer than expected. After finding out that she would be okay though, all the women were relieved. One by one, they took their turn out on the course. No one was setting any super-fast record lap times, but they all went out there and gave it what they had. That’s all you can ask for, if you ask me. Wait, what are we asking?


Anyway, Little Miss Sunshine got her chance to get out on the course. She was ready, but after sitting in the sun all day waiting for her turn I was a little worried. I had my bike with me to get around the pit area, so I decided to follow her as she took off from the start/finish line.





She was full of energy, and I didn’t realize how fast she was going. I wasn’t really dressed for riding, so trying to pedal a bike with eggbeaters and flip-flops proved to be difficult. She dropped me, which was a good thing since she was racing and I was not.









We would have to wait for her return. I’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow.