24 Hours of Seven Oaks

Labor day weekend brought about the 7th installment of the 24 Hours of Seven Oaks. I had been thinking about this event for a couple of years after seeing other people's race reports. A gracious Jacob Naumann had invited me, Mike Lebeda, and Ken Tague to form a 4 man team for the event. The shop's light, fast guys had decided to form a team with enough horsepower to keep the 4 man trophy in our possession for another year, so we decided to just go up, ride ourselves silly and have a good time.

I could give a detailed report of what happened. Instead I'm going to give you this summary paragraph. If you love mountain biking, you owe it to yourself to make it to this event next year. Camping is free, you're surrounded by like minded riders, families and friends, and the atmosphere for the weekend is party-like. If you've never ridden a 24 hour event before, a 4 man team is, in my opinion, the best way to take part in your first 24 hour event. Find three other people that want to ride their bikes and form a team. Ride as many, or as few, laps as you want and have a great time. I rode 6 laps during the race, more than all of my previous laps combined on the course, and I had a ton of fun. Yes, you'll get dirty, you'll get tired, and you'll maybe get a few scrapes. You will also be able to challenge your body, your mind, spend a lot of peaceful time in the outdoors, and make some new friends along the way.

Thanks to the race organizers, volunteers, trail workers and everyone else that made this event possible. A special congratulations to The Rasmussen 4 man team of Alread, Anderson, Blackford and Cline for their 4 man 24 hour win (30 laps) and the two man team of Logan and Sherman for their 2 man 12-hour win. I was also privileged to see and ride with both my good friend Paul Jacobson as he scored a second place in the 12 hour solo and TransIowa finisher Charlie Farrow as he scored a second place finish in the always tough 24 hour solo race.

Although I came back beat up after riding almost 50 miles on my full rigid Karate Monkey, I plan on making the trek to Boone again next year for the weekend, riding more laps, and having more fun.