The Jones Family: Tsali 12-Hour

Team Training Wheels returned to Tsali this past weekend to make its second appearance at and participate in the annual Tsali 12-hour mountain bike race. The goal - endurance and speed - see how many laps you/your team can complete in the specified time. (mind you, each loop is 11 miles)

This year TTW fielded three teams: two 6-hour soloists and one 4-man team. Herb Freeman left the team this year to try his hand at the 6-hour solo and rode alongside Wes Wiseman. They each completed four laps, placing Wes 36th and Herb 39th out of the 49 6-hour solo riders.

The 4-man team was comprised of Mike Breslin, Butch Bassett, Andy Baker and Bobby. In twelve hours (10 am-10 pm), they completed 10 laps, placing 12th of the 16 teams in the Base Division. Their lap times were 62.92 (M) - 61.19 (BB) - 61.32 (A) - 58.13 (B) - 65.66 (M) - 63.48 (BB) - 64.59 (A) - 62.63 (B) - 65.56 (BB) - 74.63 (A). Super proud of each of the guys. Bobby's rode his fastest lap to-date, posting 58.13 in lap four and beating his best lap time last year by nearly 10 minutes. Way to go Bobby! The guys were well on their way to completing 11 laps; however, Bobby took a tumble at mile 2.5 of his third lap (what would have been lap 11) and had to walk himself out. We are thankful to Emerson, a fellow rider, who sacrificed his final lap to assist Bobby in getting back to the staging area. His left shoulder took the brunt of the fall, and as a result, he severely sprained his shoulder with a good 6-8 week recovery window. The bad news, he's out for the triathlon in two weeks.

Mike before lap #1

Andy taking off on lap #3

Bobby getting mentally prepared for his first lap

Bobby in the transition area

Andy and Bobby exchange the baton (aka key tag)

and he's off! (lap #4)

Lap 7-8 Transition

Andy after the "mud lap #7"

Bobby concluding lap #8

Bobby and Butch rushing to make the 8-9 lap exchange

Butch coming into transition

Andy off for lap #10

(with all of TTW cheering him on in the background)

As for the rest of the TTW crew and support staff, we too had a great time. Many thanks to Kristine who took care of many of the logistical details and to Anna and Katie who joined us in a supporting role.

Thompson was super pumped about the race and asked on multiple occasions if he can ride next year. If he keeps up his riding, I wouldn't be surprised if we find him on the course sooner rather than later. It's hard to believe that just prior to last year's Tsali 12-hour, he had learned to ride without his training wheels, telling everyone "I lost my training wheels"...and now he's riding a bike with six gears and hand brakes. Matt Fraser, who rode on TTW last year, and his wife Sara graciously took Thompson for a ride on the 8-mile Thompson Loop.

William proved himself to be a champ this weekend. I think I walked several miles following him around on his Strider bike. Instead of walking places, he rode, entertaining spectators in the process. They were shocked to learn he was only 2 1/2. He's well on his way to mastering balance and riding a bike. And when he wasn't on the Strider, he could be found playing in the dirt alongside the transition area.