more 12 Hours of Tsali

Normally GRT Racing does most of it's movement in the field of teams later in the race. We try to focus on consistency and racing right up to the very end. It's the last 2 or 3 hours that some teams find the hardest. Either they can't handle the endurance part of the race or they went too fast too early and have nothing left in the tank once the sun goes down. Several times when Mother Nature has not played nice we kept moving even though the conditions were less than desirable while the other teams threw in the towel in favor of dry clothes and a beer.
At Tsali the course was perfect, fast and almost too easy. If you have never ridden Tsali's trails you should, it's probably some of the smoothest singletrack I ever raced on. We did move from 10th to 9th as the day turned to night but one position was all we got. The thought of calling it an early race did float through our camp but we stomped that idea quickly and continued on knowing we would regret it the next morning. Quitting early in the race has never been something I've liked. The last time I raced Tsali I went solo and although I didn't make it to the end I rode until my saddle sores said no more. It was my first ever solo 12 hr attempt and just signing up for it was a huge acheivement for me. I guess my no quitting attitude comes from the way my parents raised me. I tried every sport offered growing up as a kid and not all of them I enjoyed or was very good at but no matter what happened I was not allowed to quit until the season was over and that has stuck with me through my adulthood.

The one thing I did skip out on this year was the spaghetti, I really had no choice. Maybe the local Gone Riding admirers ratted me out because the food was not brought out until I was lining up for my 3rd lap. It was all gone by the time I pulled back into the pits, well except for the spaghetti sauce which must have been watered down since it stretched farther than the noodles. It always happens the other way around at my house. As I rolled back to my campsite I noticed an entire plate of noodles and sauce that had been dumped on the ground not far from the table it was served from. Either a mass horde of people ran over the person who was carrying that plate or they weren't impressed with the watered down sauce either.

Melinda has finished with school for the summer so we are looking forward to more road trips and more riding together. Her back pain has backed off to some degree as long as she takes it easy but that has not been easy for her. I'm looking forward to this summer and the riding plans we have, FATS is on our riding agenda somewher, not sure on the dates yet but it will happen.

At some point I really need to get some running miles in or I'm going to take a serious beating at the road races I have planned and when I say road races I mean running, not the skinny tires.