Bakers Dozen Race Report

I survived the Bakers Dozen race but it was far from an endurance event. We were only able to get in about 30 miles before the rain set in and washed the event out. Here is a blow by blow anyhoo.

I got up at 5:00 am and grabbed both bikes and loaded them in the truck. The additional bike was for backup/parts if necessary. The rest of the equipment was already packed in the cab last night. Kissed Leah goodbye at 5:30 and set out towards Lexington to meet Dennis. Arriving at Dennis' house it was still early and dark but the garage door was open and some lights were on. As I walked in the garage I noticed the door to the kitchen was open so I thought he and his wife left the door open for me. I walked in and accidentally scared the dickens out of Lori who was making eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns and coffee for us. I am glad she didn't have heart issues because I would have caused her a coronary.

We scarfed down the delicious meal and transferred all of my stuff into Dennis' van for the trip to McCormick. I asked Dennis how we could do a 30 mile Pisgah ride last year with nothing but our bikes and a couple of camelbaks but have a packed van for a 70 mile McCormick ride. The ratio of miles to stuff didn't seem to work.

We arrived at Hickory Knob Park at around 8:45 am. This was plenty of time to set up our pit (which was basically opening the tailgate of the van). I spent most of the pre-race time transferring the chain ring from my back-up bike to my race bike. I did not have a chance to do this the night before. Dennis spent the time surveying the competition and doing a meet and greet session (He has never met a stranger).


Our scheme was for Dennis to do the first lap which included a LeMans style start. The goal was for him to pull together a fast initial lap, fighting through traffic and get me in good position for laps 2,3,4 and maybe 5. So he suited up and after going to the pre-race meeting headed for the start line. They blew the horn and off they went, 100 cyclists running 1/8 mile to their bikes which were staged in a lay down area. Picture 100 folks with all the spandex you can bear to imagine coupled with helmets, camelbaks and goofy cycling shoes trying to sprint....scary to say the least.

Dennis entered the forest in about 20th position. I went back to the pit and finished tinkering with my bike. About 35 minutes later I was suited up and headed over to the transition area to wait for him to exit the forest. To my surprise he exited in about 10th place. This meant he picked off ten riders on tight single track and put me in great position. The timing tent acknowledged him and I jumped on my bike and headed into the woods.

I was feeling really good and was reeling in some riders. After passing three or four of them, I got into a nice pace and really didn't see anyone else on the remainder of the first loop. The trail was sloppy from the early morning rains and I could tell it was going to be easy to over exert by pushing through the mud. So I backed off and tried not to over do it. I finished the first lap in 38 minutes which was well below our personal goal of sub 43 laps. I continued past the timing tent and back out for my second lap. I started to notice that the trail was getting a nice semi-dry groove cut in it through the mud. So I was able to carry a lot more speed than the first lap. I reeled in a couple more riders and got behind a single speeder. He had a nice pace so I hung in there with him for a mile or so but he wanted me past him. So he kept suggesting that I pass, but that requires additional pushing as well as getting off the trail into the rough stuff and I wasn't initially interested. After a while, he talked me into it so I went past. About this time the rain started again and it was fairly heavy. The trail got really soupy again and I knew this was not good. The SORBA folks in the Augusta area hand built all 100 miles of trails in their district and are very protective of them. I feared they would call off the race with the amount of rain we were getting. Now I wanted to get back to the start/finish so Dennis could get another lap in before they called it. Also,my bike didn't like the mud and was refusing to shift which meant I needed to do some cleaning or stay in one gear. So I pressed ahead as fast as I could.

Toward the end of the second lap a saw another rider about 100 yards ahead of me. Awesome, I get to play a little cat and mouse. I would get within about 20 yards and he would pull away. We repeated this several times. I never caught him but my second lap was sub 38 which meant I was really getting into a nice pace in spite of the soupy mess. When I entered the pit area, I noticed a lot of people were watching. This really is encouraging. But as I was basking in the glory, I almost wiped out in front of everyone in the wet grass. But I caught myself and was able to make it back to the timing tent. Dennis hopped on his bike and started the fourth lap. The mouse was in the timing tent and we congratulated each other on the little sprint race at the end of the lap.

I started studying the leaderboard and was surprised that Dennis and I were in second place and were 6 minutes behind the leaders. Wow! This is our first endurance event. and we are in the running. We were 8 minutes behind after the first lap and were were trimming the lead by about a minute per lap. 3rd place is about 8 minutes behind us consistently. About that time, the timing folks announce that they are going to do a 2 hour rain delay. So, I went back to the pit and got in dry clothes and went back to the timing tent to watch Dennis arrive. He finishes a 43 minute lap and we both wait for the final results before the delay. After his lap, we are now 4 minutes behind the leaders. Dennis says that he passed them on the course and the dude was struggling.

During the rain delay, they hold a meeting in the shelter and announce that the trails cannot sustain any more damage and they were calling the event. So they hand out the swag and Dennis and I get second place. I win a Thomson elite series seat post valued at about 100 dollars. Cool. We also get a glass mug engraved with 2nd place. My first trophy (a beer glass, Paul will be proud)

Out total mileage was 30 miles/ 15 each. We were prepared for 140/70 so not exactly much of a race. But we were confident that barring a mechanical or crash, we would have overtaken the leaders and won the dual male class. Overall this was extremely fun and I will definitely be doing more of these. I met some really nice mountain biker folk and learned a lot in the process.