24 Hours of Enchantment

by

The topic of racing can bring about a lot of varied opinions. Training, pacing, fuel, start waves, neutral aid stations, compassion socks, etc. Something about pinning that number plate to your bars can turn a normally casual rider into a crazed PR junkie. And from time to time I find myself in that kind of zone, looking for a timed beat down of my own doing. But by and large I like to view races as merely a sideshow to the main event that is a party. A celebration of bikes and the people who ride them. And like any good party, there needs to be an experienced host behind the bar.

My first 24-hour solo effort was at this race a number of years ago. So it will always hold a cramped place in my heart. The Enchanted Forest debuted a new course this year and for us desert folk it fills a nice pine forested void in our summer schedules. Unfortunately it didn’t make it on to our calendar this year, so we sent an all-star team of personalities to help bring the party. My pal NE Scott has accompanied me on some frenzied adventures, thus I asked him to lead the charge and report back. This is his story.

If you’re a close follower to the DC facebook with a good memory, then you’ll recall that about a month ago [editor’s note ~ NE delivered this to me about a month after the event. The second month is my doing.] a “cracked staff of clowns” was sent out to bring the party at the Zia Rides 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest. We were well armed with a kegs worth of Oskar Blues beer, a giant stack of T-shirts and some killer jumpsuits to boot. The beer was almost overkill because the good guys and gals at Zia rides provided 7 free kegs to get the party going. We are always up for a challenge and I assure you none of it went to waste.

Our crew consisted of a four-man band of misfits including…….
B-Hard keeping it fresh in the team shirt.

Desert Yeti showing us how to properly prep for a 24 hour race.

BPR/Shadetree Bikes Joey representing in the DC jumpsuit 

Myself, on the lookout for B-Hard on the first lap.

The folks over at Zia rides put together a great venue nestled in the ponderosa pines of the Zuni mountains. The forest service was kind enough to allow new trails to be used and a new course ran counterclockwise this year. I heard no complaints about the new course as it was mostly twisting downhill single track with only a few punchy climbs to deal with.

Camp

Pre-race meeting in the vendor area.

The misfits at BPR Racing our partners in crime on course. Photo credit – Curtis Gillen Photography.

After setting up camp the first night evolved  quickly into a blurry mess of beer chugging and T-shirt tossing, the party did not disappoint.

Late night fire pit party.

Sometimes it’s hard to find a lighter.

This is a little game we’re going to call Chug-U-Under best two out of three chugging contest winner gets a shirt. Video – Curtis Gillen Photography.

Race day went as you might expect with a little more effort put into the party than the race itself.

Kraft Karl brought the stoke with 5 different hand ups and outfits to match each. Someone must have helped him into those pants.

DC jumpsuits in full effect.

DC / BPR camp equipped with a pool party.

Hard to go wrong with gorilla suit hand ups.

B-Hard showing how it’s done on course.

At the end of it all our team didn’t win or lose the race, but we for sure always win the party. Zia put on a great event we will definitely be back next year.

by