Kamp KOA at 24 Hr Town

I have to admit - I did not do a great job of taking photos this weekend at all. I just was not motivated to get the camera out and wander around 24 Hr Town this year. I don't even have any new sunset or sunrise photos! (Didn't help that the only pretty sunset and sunrise happened during the race - I was lucky enough to get both those laps) But we did have a great site and a great crew to hang with while in 24 Hr Town. KOA Dave, host of the 24 Hours in the Sage in Gunnison made the trip down to Tucson to help out a few teams and partake in the atmosphere of the 24 hour race. He scored an awesome site in town, just minutes away from the transition tent and with plenty of room for everybody. And by everybody - it was a small village of racers associated with The Griz and Camp KOA. There were four RVs, one pickup camper, one VW bus. four tents, five cars, a "party tent" with food all night long (the chicken soup that KOA Dave served up was just fabulous at 5:00 am) and a fully stocked mechanic's tent. If anyone needed anything, Dave was more then willing to help out or find someone to help out. The teams - one 5 person coed team, one 4 man team, two duo mens teams, two duo womens teams, two duo coed teams and two woman's soloists! That's 21 racers alone! Plus all the support crew and there was no body sleeping come 2:00 am in that area. And the hard work paid off - there were five podiums among the teams!

This was the first time we'd had some help in a 24 hour race. Normally, it's just us two, doing everything that keeps a duo team rolling down the single track. One of our friends from COS came down to help out two other teams and was awesome enough to help us when he had time. And it doesn't sound like much, but that cleaning the bike and getting batteries swapped out provided a few extra minutes of rest every lap. Thanks Jeremy! The other huge bonus this year was the power. We plugged the Turtle into KOA Dave's camper (the Griz) several times throughout the weekend to charge batteries, chill the fridge, make sure the furnace was working... And we weren't the only ones - I think everyone in Camp KOA was using the power from the Griz for something or chilling in the Griz between laps.

We did spend some time up at the Back of the Pack Racing pit before and after the race - which was entertaining as always. Beer tree was going strong Thursday night, the disco ball was lighting up the night sky and the lava lamp was trying to set the mood for racing. A cool living room set up with three couches and warm fire invited plenty of other racers to hang out for a few minutes or a few drinks...