BROOTAL....

Team Stoopid....

The Thin Man, Brother of Jackal, G-Ted, Blue....

Mojo bag....
It brought us luck! Thanks Jeff and Kristy!!!

Carbs in a bottle....

Brother of Jackal prior to start....

Jackal pre-race....

The start....

Squirrel says "Peace" at the end of his first lap....

G-Ted gets ready to start his first lap....

Jackal cools down while starting lap 2....

The Thin Man waiting his turn to race....

G-Ted finishes lap 2 and sends Brent on his way....

Teri advising Squirrel on strategy between laps....

Brent comes prepared with an accessory bottle opener on his tool box....

Brother of Jackal entertains Baby Rhea....

The race was brootal. Had to replenish my carbs often....

Brent talks to Baby Rhea about spoke tension and headset pre-load while Jackal thinks "WTF?"....

Oatmeal Creme Pies....

G-Ted at the final Team Stoopid safety meeting at 9:30 Sunday Morning....

Saturday morning found the members of Team Stoopid meeting at Bike Tech for the trip to Boone to participate in the innaugural 12 hour event at the 5th Annual 24 Hours of Seven Oaks Mountain Bike Race. We left Cedar Falls at about 7:15 and rolled into Seven Oaks Ski Area about 2 hours later. It was the perfect day for a race! The sun was shining and the temps were in the mid 70s when we arrived.

We set up our camp next to the Rassmussen Bike Shop truck and Squirrel's camp. The normal BSing ensued then Squirrel asked for volunteers to help move a bridge that was part of the trail and had been washed away during the recent rains in this part of the world. Whoa! It was a big bridge and had been washed about 300 yards downstream. We got a group together and went into the woods and picked it up then hauled it up to the top of the hill, over the barbed wire fence, and onto the race course. We then proceeded to carry it along the race course and placed it back over the creek where it belonged. Putting it back added a little over a mile to the course and made the race much more interesting since we could then race on both sides of this wicked ravine. I would pay for it later with a big crash on Rick's Drop. Oh yeah! Over the bars! It still hurts!

The race started at noon with the over-inflating and exploding of an inner tube. What made that unique was the partially inflated tube was expanding in the sun during the pre-race meeting and exploded prematurely, causing a false start. That was excellent! The ends of the exploded tube were then tied off and it was re-inflated and we had a good start. Brother of Jackal took off like a bat out of hell and did Team Stoopid proud by being the first to his bike and first into the woods. His lead didn't last long but he did win the quarter mile run to the bikes and led the race for awhile. Woohoo! Go Team Stoopid, Go! His first lap was about an hour,which was awesome considering he'd never even seen the course before. He and Brent would both complete several 51 minute laps in the race. G-Ted did the second lap and came back smiling like a kid in a candy store. He was pumped when he handed off to Brent for lap 3! Brent was back in a shade over 51 minutes and then I was off for my leg of this epic race. Things were going pretty good for me until I rounded the downhill switchback into Rick's Drop and proceeded to go straight over the bars. Ouch! I landed hard and watched my bottle and pump pass me on the way down the hill. My fork was turned all the way around and my rear brake lever was bent to a "straight up" position leaving me with 5 miles to go and an ineffective method of operating it. I made do, but it wasn't easy on this difficult course. I think my Mojo Bag kept me from getting hurt. I got back and Adam took off for his second lap.

We seemed to be doing pretty good as a team and hanging in there. My second lap was in the dark and I was doing fine until I crossed the creek and started climbing up the other side of the ravine. There is a short, steep section that ends in a switchback and I went over backwards while trying to negoiate that turn. Ouch, again!

Anyway, Brother of Jackal took off and turned a 55ish minute lap in the dark and we were done for the evening. It was kinda cool hearing our names announced as the winners of the four man team competition at the 1 a.m. awards ceremony for the 12 hour racers. I think that everyone had a good time! I learned that The Thin Man and Brother of Jackal are brootaly fast in the woods!

Today I still feel like I just finished playing hockey against Rochester or Mason City. I'm beat up, battered, and bruised, but I had fun. Thanks to the members of Team Stoopid and to everyone who participated and helped organize and run this great event. Thanks to all the racers who gave me encouragement out on the trail! It was good!

Thanks to Andy Lueck of Rassy's for straightening my brake lever with his seat post.

Congrats to Squirrel on his 24 hour solo win! Izzy's gonna get new toys! :)

That's it for now.

Ride safe!

Peace out, yo!