12 Hours of the Hill of Truth Part 1.

2009 HOT from A Sparks on Vimeo.

Here is a little video teaser from the start of the race courtesy of Alan. Thanks dude.

There is too much to say and too many photos to share to get it all into one post so stay tuned here for a good portion of the week.

Friday was a beautiful sunny day, perfect weather for camping & racing but we knew it wouldn't last for long. Mother Nature had other plans in store for us. I think rain during the H.O.T. is becoming the norm. for us. 3 out of 5 years it has rained before or during the race and this year was no exception.

We made the most of the dry time we had Friday and set up shop quickly

Melinda and I scored a few Halloween decorations for camp since we were going to be away for the holiday. LED eyeball lights were all the rage this year! After everything was in order Melinda and I grabbed our bikes for the only dry ride we were going to see that weekend. We scouted out bits and pieces of the race course, wandered around off course got a little lost but found our way back out just before dark and in time for dinner.

Big Ed's pizza in Oak Ridge is a popular place and has become a favorite for us the night before the race. After a few years of eating spaghetti at camp we decided we'd had enough. I've never really been a fan of spaghetti and I can think of tastier ways to carb. load before a race.

After we got back to camp we built a fire pulled up a chair and listen to Brandon and Jared bicker back & forth like an old married couple about how to build the best fire.

Alan finished off the rest of the pizza that he ordered for himself. Hungry buddy?

Some time around 3am the rain started, light at first, off and on but the later it got the heavier and more steady it got. I didn't get much sleep after 4 am, all I could think about was how long would it last and how bad was the course gonna be? This year's course had more climbing than any other course in H.O.T. history and some were hike-a-bike climbs even when dry.

We set up every EZ-UP we had in stock and constructed what looked like a small town to protect us from the rain. EZ-UP's proved their worth that weekend keeping us dry at camp.

Slowly but surely the whole team gathered Saturday morning and began pondering the outlook for the race. We had a feeling attendance was going to be lower than normal this year and a few times the topic of whether or not we would even race till the very end came up. I tried not to think about it but even I was thinking of bailing on my night laps if there wasn't a podium finish in our sights.

I think Alan either got bored or was missing Angie because he decided to dance with our purple skeleton.

Since Olga pulled a no show we resorted to Brandon's I-Phone for weather updates. Brandon looked more prepared for the weather than anyone but I don't think he ever stepped out from under the EZ-UP city except to watch the start of the race and to go home. I knew it wasn't going to be good when he backed out of the race not even starting a single lap. I really couldn't blame him though, running this race solo would have to suck. Friday night Alan had told us that he was going to be our pit crew chief/mechanic/cheerleader but before the second lap of the race started he was packing up shop and heading home as well. Before it was all said and done NTMBA only had 3 teams left racing. All of the solo riders bowed out before the race began and hit the road.

One of the best investment we ever made was our camper top on my truck. It kept the dogs dry all weekend and out of the ECO trailer.

As I was sitting here typing this post I realized that I never got around to announcing the 4th member of Granny's Rotten Teeth Racing for the 2009 H.O.T. race. He was not an unfamiliar face to GRT, in fact he is one of the original founding members dating back to 2005, our first race at the H.O.T. Friends and foes I introduce you once again to Andy (the moustache man) Mullins.

It's probably a good thing I didn't introduce him prior to the race because the paparazzi might have prevented him from arriving on time.

I wish I could sit here and tell the entire story all in one post but I've got a lot of mud to clean off my gear. My bike is a disaster, the ECO trailer and my truck are covered in mud and the pile of laundry is towering. If I don't get a huge dent in it today Melinda will shoot me. If I string you along for a couple of days to hear the rest of the story it keeps you coming back for more and my blog hit numbers going up. So stay tuned here for dirty stories and even dirtier photos.