L4adventures: Dirt Sweat and Gears Mudfest

First let me say that the promotion of this race was awesome. Great vendors, great variety of food, promoters took time to make sure the racers were cared for, bonfire, lots to drink (water, vitamin water....beer), tons of swag to give away and great payout/prizes. The weather just did not cooperate.

Shey and Jafer signed up as a duo pro/open team for the 12 hour race as Terrapin 2.

We packed up and headed out on Friday evening for the 4 hour drive. Jafer definitely broke the "1 bag rule" (he hung his head in shame), but it was pretty cool that riding gear, camping gear, food and 7 bikes all fit in/on the explorer, without the Thule.

We stopped to eat at Waffle House. This was my first Waffle House experience so I had to get a pic. Soooo exciting.

I think we got there at about 10pm or so. We set up camp next to Jeremy, and Mike brought the Terrapin trailer in shortly after we climbed into our tents.

I was up early the next morning and ran to town for more water, since the trails looked muddy. E and J took a lap and got in their workout before the race started. Whole wheat pancakes and eggs for breakfast, then it was time for the start.

Shey was up first with the lemans start. It started to rain right before the gun went off. It rained HARD. Then the rain stopped and the mud turned to sticky peanut butter.

The bikes got so heavy and the wheels stopped turning. The racers were sliding down the decents, not riding.

Here's a mid race interview with Brandon:

http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234968-2009-dirt-sweat-gears/177259-brandon-draugelis-2nd-place-overall-on-lap-3-mid-race-interview

I didn't get any muddy pictures of Shey, as we spent most of the time, just trying to figure out what to do with the deteriorating situation.

Jafer did not want to go back out again, but changed at the last minute and headed back up to the staging area. (there he analyzed how much $ in damage would occur to his bike on this lap!)

I think the "grape Koolaid" made him feel like he could take on the mud.

The first lap times were okay. Just over an hour. The second lap times were an quite a bit longer and in the end it was taking the racers 2.5 to 3 hours to RUN a lap through the sticky mud. And that was the PRO FIELD!

Instead of 12+ laps, it looked like there would be only four. CRAZY!

Jeremy looks much happier than Shey as they wait to run their second laps.

Danielle Musto has a great write-up about the slip-n-slide, er.....race.

http://daniellemusto.blogspot.com/

Bruce interviewing Jafer after his second lap. He blasted through his second lap with an agenda.

The guys were a bit disappointed that they were not able to race on their bikes, but they hung in there and finished, after many others had pulled out.

Jeremiah Bishop is telling Jafer how good it feels to take a nice hot shower....J.B. took first in the male solo, with Harlan in second and Andy Applegate in third. (cycling news got pics of these two guys together)