12hrs and 108miles of Ft Yargo

Army Strong with a before race breakfast burrito!
Still looking good with one lap down - 8 to go
Top 3 male Solo Beginners 12hrs
Yes I fit all of this in a Saturn Vue.....
Along with the four bikes on the Saris Rack


I believe this is a first - 12hrs without busting my butt or running into a tree! That was without a doubt the best I have ever done on a endurance event and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The weather was great it was overcast enough to keep it cool all afternoon with enough rain to cool ya off during the first couple hours. The late afternoon the sun broke thru and it was beautiful for the rest of the evening and into the night. I hadn't run a 12hr solo in 2yrs so was a little concerned how I would hold up once I got passed 6hrs. Most of my training in the desert was short interval 1hr spin class with my longest ride being about 4hrs. My longest trail ride was out at Duaset after my return about 3hrs so I knew I would have to work my on pace and not bonk half way through. So a month after being in the flat land of the desert I was out in the hills of Georgia winding my way around the trails. The trail was fast, clean and flowing after the field got spread out alot of the smaller uphills could almost be cleaned on momentum.
We had the perfect feed zone location right after the start/finish line thanks to Mark D. who set up our pop up for me the day prior right off the tape. So after getting in a pretty good pace for the first 4 laps I tried to back it down on the next two so I would have something left for the evening as I was pacing myself for 9 laps. Granny gear was used frequently during the last couple of laps on even the some of the smaller hills but I managed to keep a fairly steady pace through all of my laps which was my goal. The trail was awesome combination of twisting single track with downhills you could rail and catch air on according to the Garmin I topped out at 30mph down some of it. The steep uphills were usually led into by some equally steep downhills so if you picked the right line it was just a matter of timing the shift and using your momentum to get up and over. There was of course the unavoidable long steep uphills that you just had to downshift, lock the fork and go for the rpms. Overall I won the beginner group with 9 laps in a time of 11hrs 54min. This was a good warm up for the 12hrs of Tsali in 2 weeks which I only did 5 or 6hrs of last year so hopefully this indicates I am better prepared to ride compete in this event. I have to give a shout out to Charles Reeves and The Bike Store for getting my bike in great condition for racing it ran perfectly the entire time on the Trail and definitely helped me ride as well as I did. The new Saturn Vue was outstanding in loading up all the gear for the event plus, 4 mini dauschunds, my 11yr old son and all the DS gear that comes with him plus the Saris Bike Rack and all four bikes that travelled on it. Well I will be taking tomorrow off pretty much with a recovery ride Wednesday and then a Friday afternoon ride, this week will be kinda busy so sneaking in some riding to keep the legs fresh for the 12hrs of Tsali will be a little tricky but I am sure I will manage while not overdoing it. So if you are out there when I happen to be I Will See You on the Trail!