Baker's Dozen 2006

[azdrawdy]

Well, we didn't quite make it to the Baker's Dozen 13 hour goal, but a lot of people had a lot of fun, we all got to ride quite a bit, and when all was said and done, the event should be considered a success.

Although we made the call to run the Baker's Dozen based on weather reports on Thursday, rapidly changing weather patterns brought some rain early Saturday morning. It looked like it would quit by around 9am, so we delayed the start by two hours. The trail was looking great and the event was a go. The tread held beautifully and everything was going well after the noon start.

Around 4pm we had a nasty downpour. It probably wasn't any longer than twenty minutes, but it was heavy. The trail was already pretty moist from the morning rains and the tread became more like a river in several places. It was determined shortly that we could not continue the event without doing great damage to our trail.

As riders were coming in off the course, they seemed to be bringing as much mud back with them as was left on the trail. Head to toe. The race was called. The amazing thing was that many riders clapped their hands and cheered. Everyone was a good sport and that is further evidence of what a great body of folks we have in the mountain biking community. Sure seemed to me like a lot of ya'll volunteer on your own trails and know what it takes to fix a torn up one!

This morning we assessed the trail. Fortunately, 99% of the riders stayed in the middle of the trail when encountering water/muddy areas so the damage to the trail was minimal. We'll get a couple of work parties out there once everything dries out and we'll get it ready for BD07!

Thanks so much for everyone's participation. Even though it was a shortened race, it was fun. We really appreciate all of you driving and participating in our once-a-year event. It means a lot to our chapter.

Michael

[tryin]

Had a great time,team and competition. The event was well run. The time keepng was very good.Only the weather was bad although I did a lap in the rain and had the fun of the day.
The food for the riders was excellent. I think I gained weight at a bike race( not that my times would reflect that). There are a lot of people who work below the radar. Thank You
While I am sure there were serious riders that were disappointed you have to take what is dealt. A destroyed trail is just that.
Hope everyone will be back next year so I can try to obtain my un-optainable goal. I want one of those damn glasses.

[seenvic]

Great event again this year. Had we not had the rain, it was on it's way to a great race in several of the catergories.

As it was, I saw some old friends, met some new ones and had a hell of a good time.

Thanks to Daniel, Paul, Leo, Robert and all the volunteers. The score keeping was phenominal. The system was great - accurate and timely. I thought it was well done.

Thumbs up on stopping the race. I had just turned onto the trail when the bottom dropped out. It quit raining as I climbed section three. But the damage was done - the trail was under water. I haven't ridden in conditions like this since racing some 10 years ago.

[rayandtrish]

I posted below on the main SORBA Forum - Can't wait for the next one!!!

This was the 3rd Baker's Dozen that I have assisted with out of a total of 4 so far. The dedication and the understanding by all of the rider's who participated and know what it takes to keep trails in shape for the rides, was made very apparent on Saturday. We began late, but got everyone riding and watched "mother nature" add to the challenge and give us a big shot!

I applaud everyone's efforts to make it to the Dozen, get some of the laps in and pull back once we knew what was happening out on the trail.

I am proud to be a part of an outstanding organization "SORBA" and the people who love and support Mountain Biking....

Ray...

PS. I will be talking with Bill and Paul about a Fall Fling on the FATS..

[xcgene]

Thank You all for volunteering the countless hours to pull an event like this off as well as this went, Our KY crew that drove 9 hrs to get to this event are all impressed with the professionalism and good judgement that it took to see the big picture and stop the event. I feel like this action has really done a lot to show the commitment and dedication to the trails which are so much more important than riding bikes.
Great event! Great Support! and the best of all we all knew that calling it was the right thing to do.

C-yall on our next visit to the FATS!!

[thosaus]

It just gets better and better every year. Paul and Daniel (who were the "facemen" of the event) made it look easy. We did not race, but instead "donated" our money to CSRA-SORBA and rode without #'s and kept two young riders company on their laps. However, we talked to everyone we saw on the trail, and they all loved it and the event. I did not hear of anyone complaining about stopping the event. Good call. We also talked to some folks from NWGA who loved it.