12 Hours of Tsali

12 Hour Solo Male - Second Place!

Jeremy was awake for 23 consecutive hours this past weekend, with 12 of them spent on a bike, pedalling over 100 miles. It took two days for the whites of his eyes to turn white again, and the same amount of time to answer the question on everyone's minds:

How'd he do?

Well straight from the Edge, here's how it went down:

"Ok, it was going to be the first dry race of the season and I was so excited--finally, a race against other riders and not against the elements. The rider turn-out was good and Gone Riding always sets up a great venue, so all I had to do was wait around till eleven for the start, then out the gate I was third in the run and fifth into the woods.

Once in the woods I led the race for three laps, until I made a crucial mistake and let second place (Geoff Bergmark) slip by me into first, thinking he was in the single speed catagory. Around lap five I was updated on Bergmark's progress while passing through the pits, so from that point on all I did was chase, chase, and chase some more..... I had let Bergmark outta my sight for 45 seconds and he managed to put 3-4 minutes on me by lap seven.

So by the time I came in from lap 11, I was a lap ahead of third place, a lap behind first, and with 15 minutes left before the 10:40 cutoff, I decided to call it a race. Took second place and a lil' pocket money with me back to Athens, GA that same night (morning!) to spend the rest of the weekend with friends, food, and good beer!"

Dirt Sweat & Gears 2009

Terrapin Racing takes second place in the Duo Pro

Indeed, all the plays on words have already been taken, but seriously--the mud, the sweat, the broken gears, broken backs and in some instances dented skulls, were everything this race was composed of...and a LOT MORE.

Holy cow! This weekend in Fayetteville was unlike anything I've ever seen...almost laughable if I hadn't actually seen it for myself. Whilst sitting in the pits, I saw people "ride by", but really it was a lesson in pushing your bike with 80 pounds of mud on it and wheels that would no longer spin in an attempt to at least make it to the finish line. Many did, but many did NOT...lap times were inflated to three times their size, and the "unlimited beer" supply at the end was a welcomed consolation prize...

BUT! So many people plodded through to the end, and so many racers deserved more praise than they were given. Tho it was a veritable hike n' bike walk of attrition through the woods, there actually was a race going on!! So that being said, the Terrapin Racing Team gave the factory pros a run for their money in the Duo Pro category, making Sam Koerber and Thomas Turner work for their win. Sam and Thomas made impressive time especially in the final lap, but Wild Bill Lanzilotta and Jeremy Edge were on their tails the entire time, with lap distances, at times, of less than eight minutes.

A brief interview with Wild Bill after his second and final lap went like this:

me: "So? How was it?"

WB: "You really wanna know?"

me: "Uh...yeah?"

WB: "In the 25 years I've been racing...this is BY FAR, the worst race I have EVER done..."

me: "hunh--wow..."

Worst as in messiest and most difficult, but as Bill and Jeremy later agreed, it also by far, built the most character.

The Terrapin pit before the mudslide

Jeremy off for his only 'normal' lap
"She's a maaaniac, MANIAC, on-the-flooor..."

Bill comes back from his first taste of the track

Yowza!


Jeremy advises Bill on how to carry his bike


Final lap, finally over...


A glorious victory for everyone

Dirty Spokes 12 Hours of Yargo

Top Honors in 12 Hour Solo Expert

Jeremy was nearly comatose when he collected his medal after completing a grueling 115 miles (by himself) in "just" 11 hours and 38 minutes. Endurance racing is bad enough on a good day, but this race day brought a monsoon during the third lap which turned the single track into a flowing river...with water up to the rear hubs in some parts of the trail.

And then it stopped.

But THEN, the progressive laps by hundreds of riders quickly turned the river into first a muddy slip n' slide, and finally to a trek of peanut buttery, cementy, quick sandy, SLUDGE. At least my team was comprised of three other dudes, with four people total sharing the energy sucking burden, yet we still complained of being tired and spent after two laps each. Well, Edge plowed through the morning,


afternoon, and night...


...never taking a break except for brief stops every transition to replenish his stock of liquid food. By the end of the night, he had quite a crowd at the finish line awaiting his return from his tenth and final lap, when he emerged from the darkness looking like a mine shaft rescue:


At the end of the epically long day, Jeremy was still able to stand up just long enough to accept his award without falling over. And for those of you wondering, he owed his big win to his snappy new haircut.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

When I used to describe Jeremy to people who didn't know him yet, I'd say, "yeah, he's a six foot three mountain biker with tattoos, earrings, and long, curly, strawberry blond hair." To me, his very diagnostic traits were in fact, being ridiculously tall, and that long, thick, big hair.

I had never known or seen him any other way. So when he showed up the Friday before Dirty Spokes 12 Hours of Yargo with nothing on his head except a scalp with fuzz, I was admittedly, pretty...surprised.

me: (gaping) OH MY GAWD! What did you---DO??

JE: (grinning) what do you mean?

Well it turns out, that by shaving off the masses of hair I've coveted since we met, he has also shaved off many minutes of cool down time, something essential for any over heating cyclist. He will debut his new 'do at the 12 hour endurance race on May 2nd, and find out if his two bits was worth the shave and haircut...

...I think so.