24 Hours of Allamuchy 2008
Thanks Team Marty's Members for putting together Team Chaos and for having a blast at Allamuchy!
Thanks to Joaquin for this race recount:
Till about 2 or 3 weeks out from the actual start of the 2008 race, our team had no name or definite team members. Our team quite frankly was in utter chaos. Hence the name……Team Chaos.
We returned to the same campsite as 2007 and set up shop for the weekend. So 12:00pm came and our 1st rider up was Albert (All-Terrain) Tomaro, a long time veteran solo rider of this race. Through the congestion of riders that results in the mass start at 12:00 pm, he managed to pass a good amount of them and came in at 1:13. Albert had a 100mile Lance Armstrong charity ride to attend on Sunday… so he put in his one lap and went home to rest for his big ride. Next up was Mike Grant who cranked out a 1:05 lap time. He had family commitments to attend to in the afternoon/evening, so he went home for the day but managed to sneak out of the house on Sunday morning just in time for awards.
Next up was our secret weapon, expert rider Ellen Serruto, who has been tearing up the local races this year. 1st lap, she came back in the record 0:57. As it turned out, it would be the fastest lap for a female the entire weekend. After her blazing 1st lap, she went out for a 2nd loop back to back. Ellen went back home to her kids for the remainder of the day. This would lead the remaining 6 riders to battle it out for the remainder of the night against our Cooperate competition, The JORBA Allstars.
Next up, was Jason Pilato who hammered out an impressive 57 minute lap. Following Jay was ex cross country racer, newly converted Downhill racer Mike Rossi (who was out pre-riding at Diablo Park that same morning for a downhill race on Sunday). Mike pulled of the fastest team chaos lap time of 0:56.
At some point in the afternoon, our hard work paid off and we took the lead from The JORBA Allstars. Next up to ride, were our night riders.
Our rotation of Jason, Mike, Kevin, Ryan, Bill and Joaquin would battle through the night and early morning hours of the race to retain and hold our lead. Our lead would increase by 30+ minutes, and decrease to 10 minutes or less. Jay, Kev, Ryan and Mike gave it their best efforts and they rode hard and relentless throughout the crucial hours of the race (averaging times between 1:00 and 1:10).
With about 3 hours left in the race, our lead was down to 17 minutes. The Jorba Allstars had of their strongest riders going in crunch time (semi-pro rider Art White). We keep our composure and picked up our cell phone and called in for re-enforcements. “Ellen, where are you???” Ellen showed up in time to hammer out our last two laps, averaging 59 minutes laps, back to back. She officially scanned in at 12:04 pm, sealing our victory for good.
I would like to thank all the riders for their hard work throughout the race as they truly showed the fighting competitive spirit of mountain bike racing.
Thanks to Jennel and Evan for keeping our rotation going throughout the night and making sure we where awake and at the start/finish line on time.
We only had two minor mechanicals (broken seat post bolt on Kevin’s bike which was fixed with zip ties and a broken Chain by Bill, who was saved by a random Good Samaritan rider with a powerlink). The rains never came, the conditions where perfect and we all had a blast. Looking forward to 09.
Joaquin
This Team Chaos photo concoction was created by Ryan Ganley. Thanks Ryan!
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