12 hours of stank expert

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The Memphis Racing Cyclists-sponsored 12 Hours of Stank mountain bike race went off at high noon Saturday, September 16, 2000, at Bartlett Park. Affectionately known as Stanky Creek, this wooded treasure is located at the corner of Sycamore View and Yale Roads. The object of this annual endurance test is to prove which team (or solo rider) can complete the most laps of the 8.2-mile trail system during the 12 hours race period.

Each team consists of three riders or an expert-level solo rider. Teams compete not only against their age group/classification but also against the entire field. The race is started LeMans-style, with the racers sprinting to their bikes. It was a close race between two of the expert teams, Mid South Velo and ACCM from the start, with their riders swapping the lead in the expert class back and forth every couple of laps.

At the three-hour mark of the race, every rider coming in to the pit area had wild reports of a HUGE tree that had fallen on the course during the race. One rider thought he heard a car wreck, apparently the sound the tree falling across the trail, completely blocking it. Luckily no one was injured by this freak occurrence. Upon examination of the damage, it was determined that the MRC chainsaw would not put a dent in the tree and, even worse, there was no way to cut a trail around it. The only viable solution was to build a ramp up and over the tree and wait for our "test subjects" to determine if it was ridable. In the end, there was no general consensus, some riders rode it, some tried and some said "no way".

The race for the lead continued into the night, until one of the ACCM racers bike light failed on him, slowing him down considerably. The door was opened for Team Mid South Velo to seize the lead at around 10:30 P.M. and never look back. After 147 miles of racing, they ended up finishing with a ten-minute lead. Greg Eason took the Solo class, completing 11 laps. He earned plenty of respect for riding 90 miles around the torturous Stanky Creek Bike trail. The River City Wheelmen took the highly contested Sport class. All the results can be below .

After the race finished at midnight, R. B.'s Cyclery served breakfast. Everyone had a healthy appetite following 12 hours of racing. All in all, the racers had a great time at this unusual event.

Look here for Race Photos

Lap Times

Read October 2000 Memphis Health and Fitness

12 Hours of Stank article

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