Thursday, September 9, 2010
Dukes Summer Epic 8 hour July 24th, 2010
Please excuse my lateness on this blog posting but the summer has been filled with too much fun, excitement to allow me to sit down at my computer and type away.
Lets go back in time a little bit to July 24th, the big day of the Dukes Summer Epic 8 hour, or should I say the day of Da Revenge of Carlos and Moustachio, or the Dooms Day of the Brother and Sister Rivalry Showdown, or a regular day in the office for Bom Chica Wah Wah to do what he does best.
For those of you who have no clue what is even meant by those three days, please allow me to explain. The day of Da Revenge of Carlos and Moustachio, that day is thanks to Corey’s intellectual creativity for the name he assigned to his two person tag team with Simon on board. Who is Carlos, and who is Moustachio one might ask, I don’t think anyone really knows. Then there is the Dooms Day of the Brother and Sister Rivalry Showdown that needs some explaining. This day is compliments of the loving togetherness that can only be shared by a brother and sister. A brother and sister wanting to (for lack of a better description) kick the asses of other sibling teams who think that they are faster and love each other more than they do. The three teams competing in this category are the Kick Ass Kinsie’s (Jon and Danielle), the Whoop Ass Wagler’s (Jamie and Sam), and the Wicked Ass Wilsons (Jen and Parker). Lastly, there is the regular day in the office for Bom Chica Wah Wah to do what he does best. What does Bom Chica Wah Wah mean? Well if you’ve seen a few Axe Body Spray commercials I think you can imagine a possible definition of that phrase. I however advise against you searching for the definition on urbandictionary.com for the results are mildly inappropriate. Anyways, this is the team title Logan gave his one man team in the Solo category. And team Bom Chica Wah Wah was going for the big win again at this race for his 4th time in a row, (Hence the regular day in the office). Team Bom Chica Wah Wah also though he would intensify the brother, sister rivalry competition by challenging the bros and sistas that he would complete just as many laps as them and in a faster finishing time.
Well , the big day arrived and it appeared that everyone had brought their A game to the table. Everyone that is except for Corey or Carlos for that day, who brought his A+ game to the table. Corey and Simon’s team were in tight competition with the Scott Squared team for the entire race and the difference between being first, and the first loser came down to the last lap! Corey was the one to lay the hammer down on the last lap while Simon nervously waited at the finish line probable regretting not choosing to do a double lap for the win. And Corey pulled through with the goods proving he had what it took to guarantee the win, by coming across the finish line in first for the tag team category a mere 40 seconds ahead of the Scott Squared team. Corey knew he had to put together a solid last lap to make up for his romantic tree hugging experience on an earlier lap which almost resulted in a skin graph and a lost nipple. Way to go Da Revenge of Carlos and Moustachio!
Then there was the brother and sister rivalry. I will cut to the chase and state right away that the Kick Ass Kinsie’s took the win, however I feel this is due to an unfair advantage. Advantage one being that the Kinsie’s are very good looking, advantage two being that they have a much higher combined age over their competitors, and advantage three, Jon is too fast. Then the true competition was between the Waglers and the Wilsons for the win (say that 10 times fast). It was a close match and it all came down to finishing times because the top 4 teams all managed to reel in a staggering 15 laps of the near 10 km course. It turned out that the Waglers pulled off a 3rd place finish only 2 minutes behind team Flash Dance while the Wilsons came in a close 4th place. Jamie says that he and Sam could have easily pulled off a second place finish if he didn’t have to run half a lap due to his crank falling off and his rear derailleur getting mangled. But Jamie these are the risks that you have to take when you decide to assemble your bike yourself. To tell you the truth, I’m suprised that only your crank fell off and your derailleur got mangled. I think the MVP for this race goes to Sam who had to clean up her brother’s mistakes by completing an impressive double lap while master mechanic Jamie went to work.
Then came the solo race. I didn’t realize this at first, but having won three of the last solo 8 hour races that I have entered, I was a top competitor and there were other racers “out to get me.” Other than the start and the finish of the 8 hour race, there really isn’t anything exciting to talk about. I mean going in the same circle over and over again, in fact 15 times, is really only exciting for the first lap, then comes the mental game of trying to keep pace for the longest 8 hours of your life, and keeping the rubber side down. However I have managed to find a technique that has worked really well for me. Go fast right off the beginning, don’t look back, and if you start to slow down, go faster. And hang on because it is a long 8 hours. Oh and don’t forget to stay hydrated and eat a good amount of tasty food at regular intervals. This technique worked out quite well and I managed to take home my fourth title by finishing 15 laps and only a few minutes behind finishing time of the Kick Ass Kinsie’s. Oh so close. A big congrats goes out to Duane competing in the masters 40+ solo division. To the untrained eye that guy may not look like your typical endurance mountain biker, but to the trained eye, he is one tough farmer that can finish that 8 hour like it is a typical 12 hour day on the farm.
Well done Two wheel Express!