Home » Tuesdays with Dirty: 24 minutes is the new 24 hours

Tuesdays with Dirty: 24 minutes is the new 24 hours

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Every Tuesday night in the summer, here in Tempe, there is a little mountain bike race. It’s called Short Track Papago and it has been going on for well over a decade now. Sandwiched between the airport and the freeway, Papago Park is a little oasis of dirt right here in town. It’s not too pretty on the eyes, but it’s fun to go roll on some dirt without ever having to be more than a mile away from a bar.

Last Tuesday was the official end of the race series and somebody decided to make it be a little bit bigger than an average week. Some prizes were donated, a course was laid out, and flyers were hung up in various bike shops around the valley.

this flyer is a SnakeHawk original

We have all heard of 24 hour racing, well this was its little brother. This bad boy was 24 minutes on a course about 3/4 of a mile long with some twists thrown in to keep it interesting. The rules were pretty simple. Do as many laps as you can in 24 minutes. There was a beer “aid station” out on the course. Drink or don’t drink, it was up to you. But for every beer you emptied, you got one bonus lap added to your total. Most were led to believe that this final lap count would determine the winner and the competition was fierce. When it was all said and done Nebraska Scott took the bragging rights with 3 laps and 5 beers making him the only one with an 8 lap total. Strong work, amigo.

To level the playing field between the drinkers and the “athletes” the top 5 men and women battled it out in a little game of capture the flag. Lee-Ann took it by a length for the ladies and Brad won it handily for the men. It should be noted that Brad actually threw up right before the final and was penalized 20 yards at the start…and still won!

First place took home an entry  to the Tour of the White Mountains and the Lanterne Rouge got themselves an entry to the Cruiserman. It was a fine way to spend a Tuesday night.

It was good to see that local underground racing is still alive and well in these parts. Contrary to popular belief, punk actually isn’t dead in mountain biking.

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Do you have a local underground race in your town? I want to hear about it…put a link in the comments or email it to me.

Ride bikes. Drink beer.

Keep it dirty…

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About dirty biker

I am a fan of singletrack, singlespeeds, single women and single malt. Currently in Carbondale, CO Follow on Instagram @dirty_biker

16 Replies to “Tuesdays with Dirty: 24 minutes is the new 24 hours”

  2. …dirty b…i’m ‘western as fuck’ & happy as a something or other…mucho grasimus…it’s gonna get bagged real soon…

    …pic to follow…

  4. We used to have this in Madison for years…24 MOTAB (24 minutes of the abandoned building) behind Olbrich Gardens. Once a month rain or shine or snow. Started with all of our bikes piled high in one pile and then one person stood on top of a pile of rocks and shotgunned a beer and threw it. When it hit the ground, that was the start and it was off! http://kittenfactory.blogspot.com/

  5. WOAH WOAH WOAH! Why does this keep getting overlooked? I had 8 laps to to tie! 4 laps, 4 beers! you saw it with your own eyes. No respect! haha

  7. Just 4 beers?

    What are ya?

    Don’t try that down under, here you wouldn’t have left the start area with that…

    I could skull 4 beers in under 3 minutes, granted there’d probably be a bit of spewing on the cycle leg..

  9. @Hurben everybody is a tough guy until the pedaling starts. I was there and these boys were going damn fast and pounding beers like a champ. I also heard that Scott downed an Old English right before the start as well…

  10. We got an underground thing here. Although if I told you about it it wouldn’t be underground anymore. See if you can find me. B double E double R U N.

  12. @Walt,

    Not detracting from the boys but..

    I will never claim to be a tough guy, but I will absolutely guarantee you that I, as any Kiwi, South African or Aussie cyclist can wipe out 4 tinnies & then get out there & mix it.

    This years Single Speed championships will prove that.

  14. ay wey alleycats posh carrera. i live in san cristobal de las casas, chiapas, mexico. our race-secret urban course. u get a map at the start. find 8 checkpoints, drink a shot of posh (mayan moonshine) at each- last 1 to the finish bar wins. 500 year old colonial town, very narrow streets, extremely dangerous in the rainy season. u guys would love it-saludos ciclistas borachos-viva drunckcyclist!