Tree shaker 12 hour race.

This past weekend was the Tree Shaker 12 hour race in Fort Mill, SC. Jim and I had planned on going for a while with Billy, but he had a wedding that day and could not squeeze in both, so we had to find a 3rd person to race 3 man open or do a duo. Jim's friend Jeremy agreed to do the race with us even though he had never done any type of mountain bike race. Jim and I weren't sure if this would hurt our chances to take 1st in the open class (the toughest class) or not, but we decided that no matter what we would give it all we had, make a good showing for our sponsors, and have a good time.

The race got started and I hit the singletrack in 3rd, the gravel and the wet grass made me a little nervous, so I kept from going all out. After a mile or so, I was up in to 2nd and on the leaders wheel. We opened up a 15 or 20 second gap on everyone else and cruised. I tried to remember the course from last year, but made some poor decisions on my first lap, causing me to slow down a bit. I dropped my chain on the first downhill and lost 7 or 8 spots before I recovered. I motored on the rest of the lap picking a few bad lines, but learning the course. I was in the top 10 from all of the teams and 2nd for our class.

The rest of the day went smooth, we thought that we were fighting for 3rd place, but realized the team that we were racing was in a different category (they had the same color plate as we did).

We all did our parts to keep our place steady with Jim and I putting in laps about 15 minutes faster than Jeremy. We all stayed consistent, and had no big problems.

We ended up 3rd, a lap behind the leaders(some local xc racers that knew the trail and the pros from Coca-Cola Barkley), and a lap ahead of 4th. The day ended up being awesome for all of us, we had to tease Jeremy for being on the podium in his first 12 hour race in the open class with a very competitive field.

Thanks to all of the sponsors and supporters that made another podium finish possible!

Go Velosports.