Arrived at Hurkey Creek to find a note from Scott about our camp site and desperate need for additional riders--Thanks Scott. TDW's Red-headed Step-children were down to 6 members, with our sixth member still in doubt as we didn't know if Petee would be able to get up to the park on Saturday in time. We had 5 members for sure with hope held out for Petee. Camp set up was a breeze and I managed the team paperwork and registration, and got the schwag. Doc came up on Friday night and set up his palace, minus his sleeping bag! I think that Doc borrowed a bag. Wiley & Co also came up on Friday night. Spaghetti with meat sauce was had by the gang and after a check of equipment, we settled in for the night. Justin, Dan, Lead Ed, and the rest of the teams and food, were due up on Saturday. NiteRider was a no-show on Friday, and my dual beams weren't working--they went out on Monday's ride! Things were looking tentative (no pu! n intended), but good fortune was around the corner.

Saturday 9/22/01

Today was the big day--24 hours of mountain bike relay madness. we started the morning with a six member corporate team--those cannucks were surprised that we only had six. A guy came up looking for a team (thanks Scott for the sign)and I heard him through my tent, but I was tired and so I didn't bother getting up at that time (thanks Scott for telling him to come back). After I got out of my tent, I met a guy named Todd and asked him if he was "the media guy"--the guy who came by earlier whose team was supposed to be comprised of folks from the media. Todd wasn't "the media guy" so I asked him about his and his buddy's lap times--1:15. I thanked him and told him to come back at 10 AM and check if we needed anybody. Derek "the Hermonator" Hermon aka "the media guy" rode up shortly before Justin drove up. Derek and Justin are buds from way back in Justin's 160 lbs. days. I recognized Derek's gold homegrown Schwinn and I re! membered Justin telling me what a stud Derek was. Derek stimultaneously became our seven man and #1 spot rider. (He had to do the run and prolog lap--instead of me!)I got Derek signed up and showed him the course start and run. The rest of the team gathered and we decided on our ride order: Derek, Pete (Mr. Sunshine), Dan the man, Justin the can opener (my dad is watching can I go before you), me cartwheels, ranger Jay, and Doc (the vampire--likes to ride at night). TDW's #1 (the now imfamous Max Nelson) was a no show and Rick Mitchell was pressed into service as their #1. After a moment of silence for the Sept. 11 victims, the race began. Derek got a flat (this boy was to have some kind of luck) but he reinflated and brought us home in 14th place overall! Pete went out and blazed a 57 min. lap, followed by sub hour Dan, then Justin, 1:04, then me. It was H-O- T! I got caught behind some slower riders (whom I finally passed! ) but then I had my front tire get mushy on the second downhill section so I stopped and changed my tube--thank goodness for CO2. In my anaerobic haze, I put my tire on backwards which elliminated my speedo. On the flat section before the hike-a-bike, I got caught and passed by Marla Streib-- a pro downhiller who is somewhat of a HOTTY and whose voice and manner of speach sounds alot like the girl in the movie American Pie (one time, at band camp...). I stayed with her until, of course, the downhill sections--she dusted me silly. I came home in 1:05 and passed the wood to ranger Jay. Jay hammered out a 1:01 lap! Doc took over at night. Strangely enough, we found ourselves in 3rd place in our division. Derek, Mr. Drama, had another flat front tire on his first night lap. He actually PASSED people while he rode it in ON THE RIM! Under a spouse mandate, and being afraid of the dark, Pete had to go home after his first lap so D! an took over his slot and blazed a sub hour night lap. Justin was next, and true to his nickname, the can opener, had shifting trouble on his new $2000 fully suspended rig. I won't mention that SOMEBODY--who is a bike mechanic by trade--tuned up Justin's bike earlier in the day. We dropped to fourth place as Saturday froze into Sunday.

Sunday 9/23/01

I took over from Justin, early Sunday--BOY was it cold. I crash twice on my first night lap. Even so, I managed to pass a chunking looking guy with a sour look on his face--we were back into 3rd. Jay got a flat and did a 1:23 lap--we were back into 4th. Docv rode a good lap, tangling bars with another rider and going down--typical Doc, had to meet his quota. Derek borrowed a tuffy liner for his twice flatted front tire, but, as luck would have it, ran out of light on his second night lap. He drafted a slower guy who had lights. Fear not, Derek's bad luck is not impervious to others. Despite Derek's warnings, the guy with lights ran head on into a traffic barrier--blinking light and all! Dan got us back into 3rd when he passed " a guy who was cramping, and he looked at me as I rode by, and I guess that he recognized me, or knew who I was because as soon as I passed him, he started cussing." WHAT DRAMA! WHAT SUSPENSE! DICIN! G IT UP THE DARK COLD NIGHT! Dan gave us a 4 minute lead. Justin, on his hardtail, rode well and reduced our lead by 2 minutes. I had a good lap, rode to daylight, and stretched our lead to twelve minutes. PETEE was SUPPOSED to ride the first daylight lap (from 6 AM to 7 AM). Petee WAS IN CAMP! Doc TOLD Petee that he'd better get to the start line. Petee's responce, "I don't go until 7 AM). I roll up and no Petee, I gotta ranger Jay, but no Petee. After a quick, "Where's Petee?!" I hand to stick to Jay. I roll around the corner and guess what, here comes Petee--thirty seconds late! Jay loses some time, then Petee loses about ten minutes to their fastest guy--we are now in 4th with three to four laps to go. Time to strategize. We decide to shuffle the order and run the BIG dogs again. Derek, goes out after Petee. Doc was up next, our opponents were countering with their second fastest guy--a 56 minute 16 year old infant! 60 ! year old/young Doc against an embryo! As if father time wasn't bad enough, it was getting H-O-T again and you know how Doc's pure-blooded Norweigian genes don't take well to the heat. Derek smoked a 56 minute lap and we regain 3rd. Still, Justin and I were counting down the minutes until Team 421 came in and sent their embryo out to chase down grampa. Twminutes passed, no team 421... three minutes...five minutes...ten minutes...twenty minutes and no team 421! Our guys are watching, their guys are watching. Their first mechanical? YES!!! A tacoed wheel and a 1:50 lap! Should've had radios. We didn't feel the need to bother Doc with the news. Doc responded with a 1:05 lap. We sent Dan the man-who-hadn't-ridden-in-three- weeks-and-I-don't-have-the-aerobic-conditioning-to-do- forty-miles back out. Dan's mission: give Petee enough time (1:08 minimum) to do a 24th hour lap. Justin and I couldn't help noticing that for a guy who-h! adn't- ridden-in-three-weeks-and-didn't-have-the-aerobic- conditioning-to-do-forty-miles, Dan was HAM-MER-ING! 56 minutes later, Petee was out for our last lap. What ride would be complete without Petee crashing? We may never know. Petee was nice enough to go over the bars in a rutted section. Petee made it back in 1:05--out 23rd lap. Initially they had us in 4th place, but eagle-eyed ranger Jay noticed that the listed 3rd place team, not only overcame a one lap deficit, but did their last TWO laps in 1:15 minutes. After a brief protest, we were reinstated to our podium finish--3rd place! No bike shop sponsor! No big name No Fear T- shirt wearing punks! Just the little red-headed step- children. This is for all of the red-headed step- children out there...WE'RE NUMBER THREE!...WE'RE NUMBER THREE!...WE'RE NUMBER THREE!

RIDER: Derek the Hermonator, Dan the Man, Justin the Can opener, Cartwheels, ranger Jay, Petee, and Doc.

PS Petee won a lighting system and new found bravery, so now he can join us on our night rides.