Dax & Dean of "Shake & Bake" Team Pedal Towards Victory
Every year, thousands gather to watch the most exciting off-road bicycle race in the world. Join us, as we review the excitement of the 2008 24 Hours of Moab.
Watch the Video, "24 Hours of Moab, 2008"
Moab, Utah - October 12, 2008
After midnight in Moab, it is 39 f degrees outside,
but the wind chill on exposed human flesh feels like 34 f degrees. To
the north, in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, a major winter snowstorm
rages. Although no precipitation has fallen here in the past five days,
the storm to the north is acting like an atmospheric vacuum cleaner,
pulling in strong winds from the south.
At Noon Saturday, the thirteenth annual Suzuki “24 Hours of Moab” mountain bike race began at its traditional course “Behind the Rocks”,
ten miles south of Moab. For those who do not know, the “24 Hours of
Moab” is the premier endurance race of its kind. For all of those
years, Laird Knight and his Granny Gear Productions has been the driver
behind this event.
As the huge regional storm was building to the north
on Friday night, thousands of mountain bike racers and race fans made
camp on a former cattle-grazing land near the Start/Finish line. As
they spent the night in tents near the course, I slept in my heated
travel trailer, at the full-service Moab Rim Campark,
ten miles away. Even in my sheltered spot, I awakened several times
overnight, fearful that my trailer might blow over in the wind. I can
only imagine how little sleep the racers and fans may have gotten in
their campground that night.
On Saturday morning, I drove to the race site,
intent upon finding the two-man Bach Builders Team, also known as “Team
Shake & Bake”, comprised of Dax Massey of Boulder
and Dean Miller of Littleton, Colorado. Having met both men in the
parking lot of a Moab supermarket the previous day, I wanted to
photograph and interview them before the start of their 24-hour race.
Upon my arrival at the camp and racecourse, the thousands of tents,
bikes and racers made me realize that finding Dax and Dean was unlikely.
As the minutes counted down to race time, the winds
built in equal measure. Sweeping winds alternated with vortices of
super-fine red dust. Almost immediately, the actuator on my digital
camera developed a gritty feel. Looking like bandits or bank robbers,
many fans around me wore bandanas over their noses and mouths. After
realizing that the western bandana is really an early type of filtration
device, I lamented the fact that I had left mine at home.
The race includes an exciting “LeMans Start”,
patterned after the classic sports car race of old. Rather than running
to their sports cars, our bike racers first ran one hundred yards out,
then one hundred yards back, before jumping on their bikes and pedaling
away.
With the strong wind and the loud public address
system whipping up the crowd, the race start was pure pandemonium.
Crowd control broke down, with fans, photographers and racers
intermingling like Native Americans stampeding a herd of American Bison
toward at cliff.
I would like to say that after the race started that the dust cleared, but it 
did
not. After the racers pedaled furiously away, the PA announcer told us
that we would not see the leaders return from their fifteen-mile loop
for about an hour. Being a long distance bike-racing fan is like
working for the CIA. There is endless boredom, punctuated by occasional
action, when the riders return. If the race itself is a test of
endurance, for fans it is a test of dedication.
did
not. After the racers pedaled furiously away, the PA announcer told us
that we would not see the leaders return from their fifteen-mile loop
for about an hour. Being a long distance bike-racing fan is like
working for the CIA. There is endless boredom, punctuated by occasional
action, when the riders return. If the race itself is a test of
endurance, for fans it is a test of dedication. Since I am a math whiz, I realized that at the pace
of one lap per hour, I would see each of my favorite team riders not
more than twelve times over the 24-hour period. After eating more dust
than ever before in my life, I decided to leave the scene, planning to
return for the final hour of racing, late Sunday morning.
Why would so many people brave such hardships to
participate in or watch a 24-hour bike race on a remote, windswept
mesa? The roots of off-road bicycle racing go back to the late 1960s,
when a few intrepid souls raced up (or was it down) Mount Tamalpais, in
Marin County, California. Not to be outdone, young men and women
throughout the Rocky Mountain region took up the sport in the 1980s and
1990s. Now that it is a mature, if niche sport, off-road bicycle
endurance racing appears to attract participants in their late twenties
to their early forties. There are younger and older participants, but
the core group has “Generation X” (for extreme?) written all over them.
As I complete and post this article, the high, cold
mesa is still a beehive of activity, with racers, volunteers and support
staff monitoring the ongoing race. As I prepare to retire, it reminds
me that Dax and Dean will have little rest again tonight. Only when one
passes their team baton to the other, can the first rider rest for an
hour or two, depending on their riding schedule.
I forgot to mention that when I met Dean on Friday
afternoon, an injury to his right hand and wrist prevented him from
offering me a traditional handshake. Undaunted, Dax and Dean planned to
come in first in their self-supported Duo-Pro class. If they finish at
all, they will be my heroes. As I write this article, time wears on.
According to current race results provided by promoter Granny Gear, Bach
Builders/Team Shake & Bake is currently in thirteenth place overall
and they are first in the Duo-Pro category. While they clocked early
laps at one hour, eleven minutes, their after-midnight lap times have
fallen to one hour and thirty-one minutes. Go Dax and Dean. I shall
cheer your anticipated victory at the finish line on Sunday at Noon.
By James McGillis at 01:59 AM | | Comments (0) | Link
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