"The Epic Endurance Cycling team has now had a week to recover from the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo down in Tucson, Arizona, and boy did we need it. Our first race could be considered more than a just a success as the two teams we entered in the 4-Person Men Open category finished in second and tenth out of 140 teams.
Team Epic Endurance (team 1) takes second place over all.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
The team came expecting to get out of the Colorado cold and enjoy the typically warm weather of Tucson, however, Mother Nature had other plans. Wind gusts reaching over 40MPH, cold temperatures and heavy sheets of rain welcomed us racers as the sun set behind the nearby mountains. At least we didn’t have to worry about the darkness of the night. Riders on both of our teams credit our flying night lap times to the dependability and sheer awesomeness of the lights themselves. Kelly Feagans on Epic Endurance Team 2 had actually only gone night riding once prior to the race and it involved just an average commuting light. He was more than surprised when he hit the trail. “I can’t believe how the Exposure Toro and the Joystick light up the trail. It’s like daylight out there. I don’t even have to slow down!” Epic Endurance Team 1 rider Chris Baddick, who arguably had the lap with the worst weather, wasn’t worried at all about his lights. “My lights and I are both from the UK and have been tested in conditions worse than this. Neither of us let the weather shut us down”. “My night lap times were within seconds of my day lap times.” said Bryan Alders, “I had a 1:04:40 lap time at around 5:30PM (daylight) and a 1:04:28 at 2:30AM. My lights were amazing".
Epic Endurance (Team2) Kelly Feagans's 24 Hours of Old Pueblo Exposure Lights set up.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
At around midnight the rain finally stopped and the wind started to calm. The course quickly turned from mud puddles to a singletrack speedway. The dirt turned into what us mountain bikers like to call “hero dirt” it was smooth, fast and we could corner hard. There aren’t too many ways to put a bigger smile on your face than racing your bike at 20MPH on singletrack, at 3:00AM, leaning so hard into a corner that your bike is on the trail but your body is over the cactus at the inside of that corner. I know, we’re sick, but try it sometime, we dare you to not love the adrenaline rush.
Riders perspective on the course.
(looks nice and warm compared to our New England weather!)
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
(looks nice and warm compared to our New England weather!)
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
The 24 hours of Old Pueblo was certainly the adventure we cam looking for. Both teams battled hard to earn their respective finishes. We can’t wait to head to our next race and get out on some more night rides!"
For further information and details regarding the Epic Endurance Cycling Team, visit www.epicendurancecycling.com, on Facebook, and twitter .
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Bryan Alders
www.bryanalders.com
Bryan Alders racing recently in the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
Photo courtesy of Bryan Alders
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