Leesburg Bakers Dozen...

Last year a few friends did the 1st Leesburg Bakers Dozen - 13 hour endurance mountain bike race, and they raved about the venue. Mike Carter and I were talking about doing it Solo, but later decided with Greenbrier next weekend, we would do a 2 person team.

My wife and I had planned on leaving around 3ish on Friday to head down to Virginia for the 2nd annual Bakers Dozen. As with all my other trips, I was running late. Strauser showed up at my while I was still getting my back up bike together - well building it actually :) Then I had to wash my main bike and get that all ready, pack the car and head out. We probably left the house by 4:30 - and encountered traffice on rt 83 which really slowed us down.

We arrived at the race around 8:00pm and found the Spokes Bike Shop banner, where the Carter's were parked - saving us a spot. We set up camp and hung out with everyone for awhile then went to sleep.

The next morning I awoke to Lisa cooking pancakes and sausage in their camper. That was really nice to have some real food before a race like this. Mike and I had our game plan set - I would start the first lap, since I usually go out pretty hard to start, and he has the steady endurance to go all day. Then we switched to 2 on 2 off laps, with Mike busting out a 3rd in his rotation. Another rotation of 2 on 2 off, then we switched to 1 on 1 off laps for the duration. Our transitions went off without a hitch (except for one) Mike came in from his last lap at 11:46pm, so I rolled through for my last lap, number 24 for us. I felt pretty slow and every log crossing seemed about 3 inches higher than the earlier laps.

I finished our 24th lap at 12:25. We ended up in 7th place, 1 lap off the leaders and 50 seconds off 6th place. I'm very stoked for where we ended up. After it was said and done - I'm not sure how fresh I'll be for Greenbrier now :)

Mike Belefonti rocked out 14 laps for 11th place solo - exactly one year after his 1st chemotherapy session and it was also his & his wife's wedding anniversary. For those who know Mike - give him some props next time you see him. Vance from our team did a 2 person team with a friend of his Donnie and ended up with 21 laps for 15th place - a very solid ride. And Brian Strauser from the Dirt Devils busted out 10 laps for his first ever endurance event, and he was on a fully rigid singlespeed Kona Unit 2-9.

So it was a great event with a great showing by the local crew! Unfortunately there was one injury that I know of, and the race director's personal Moots-x YBB was stolen. Hopefully the injured rider recovers fast and the bike is recovered.

I hope I didn't leave anything out, and I will post pictures soon.

-matt