Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Bicycling.com and what the Team as been doing.

A friend of mine just sent this link to me, so I thought I would share it with everyone.

www.bicycling.com/beer/slide4.html

 

I want to apologize for not keeping you informed of the Team performance. They have been doing wonderful and they have been representing. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them. I would also like to announce that as of Monday June 1,2009  , I’m the New East Coast Sales Manager for Niner Bikes. Niner has been a big part of the Terrapin Race Team, and I’m excited to be a part of this wonderful company.  Now down to business.

 

 

  2009 Single Speed State Championships;

 

May 16-17 2009 -  Despite a rather dreary whether forecast, a great time was had by all at the Georgia single speed championships.  This is an event that features two full days of racing and events for all mountain bike enthusiasts who have a single speed or that don’t mind modifying their geared bike for a day.  The Terrapin Racing Team has  Two New State Champion champions, Shey Linder (Fixed Gear) and Bill Lanzilotta (40+ Expert

Jeremy  Edge Performs at the 12 Hours of Tsali;

 

May 23^rd 2009 -  For the first time in three years it did not rain during the 12 hours of Tsali.  Jeremy Edge took advantage of the conditions and laid down 11 laps to capture second place in the open male category.  Jeremy kept his average lap time under an hour on this demanding course.

 

B.U.M.P.

 

What can we say about this excellent course and the dedicated B.U.M.P. organization of volunteers that puts on this excellent event and maintains such fast single track.  This year the race was given a higher profile hosting the second race in the Eastern National Series (Kenda Cup).  The 17-mile course contains 1,300 feet of climbing with lots of fast flowing single track and the famous “blood rock” technical decent.  The race has become a staple in the diet of any experienced southeastern rider.  Shey Linder finished second in the Men’s Expert 30-39 and Bill Lanzilotta finished fifth in the men’s Expert 40-49.  The organizers have added additional fun events and on-site camping to this event.  We took this opportunity to showcase some of our bikes and Terrapin Rye Ale during the Red Bull movie.  This is always a good race drawing almost four hundred riders this year from all around the country.

 

GSC Dauset Race June 21,2009

Will Bill got 2nd in what was probably the hottest day Ga. this year.

 

Look for more updates to follow.

 

Cheers !

Monday, May11, 2009

Dirt, Sweat, and Gears 12 Hour race

 The promoters should rename this race Mud, Sweat, and Tears, because the race was the muddiest, nasty, pain-staking race I’ve been a part of and I didn’t even compete.  I watched helplessly as my racers road though the driving rain on the first lap while dodging lightning bolts.  Had the rain continued it might not have been half bad, but the rain stopped and then the mud-fest began.  Within an instant, the lap times went from an hour to over three for most riders as riders went from riding 23 lbs bikes to carrying 100 lbs along a 10 mile course of wet concrete that was 8 inches deep in some spots.

 Chris raced in the 12 hour solo class, while Jeremy/Wild Bill raced as one Pro-Duo Team and  Shey/ Jafer raced as the other Pro-Duo Team.   Despite the conditions, Jeremy was the 4th or 5th person out of the woods but was second in the class.  Shey wasn’t far behind in 3rd place. I started to clean bikes as soon as they got back to the tent and was amazed how muddy and heavy the bikes were. Chris got to the tent with a flat tire, so I stopped cleaning and changed his tire in order to get him going again.  I went back to cleaning the bikes and had them ready to go within an hour, but had to wait another hour and a half for Wild Bill and Jafer to get back.  Bill was covered from head to toe and only the whites of his eyes and teeth were discernable.  Too bad I did not have my camera ready, maybe next time.

 With the rain coming intermittently throughout the day, the mud only got thicker as it would begin to thicken only to be lightly moistened again.

 After the mud settled and the results were in Bill and Jeremy got Second in the Pro-Duo team class, while Shey and Jafer got 4th.  Unfortunately, Chris pulled out after a nasty spill hurt his knee.

 It was a great race and I hope this doesn’t scare racers off for next year.

 I’ll send pictures or check the web later this week for some awesome shot from the race.

Check this out: Click here

Thursday, April 16, 2009

I hope you guys had a good Easter, we sure did. Saturday started out with Rob Kranz, 2008 SSUSA Champion and Shey Linder, from the team meeting me at Hawk Creek to do a ride on the 2009 SSUSA and GSSC race course. We talked to the land owner and worked out the details and now it’s official! We have a home for the races!

 Thereafter, I raced over to Terrapin Beer Company for the 7^th Anniversary party.  I set up the Trailer, the tents, bikes, and got some plastic Easter eggs ready just in case some kids showed up with their parents.  A couple of guys showed up from the race team, but most were out of town for Easter. Jeremy was racing a 6 hour race in Charlotte.  He won with 8 lap, the fastest first lap and the most laps for a solo racer. So getting that call was a pretty cool Saturday and Congratulations Jeremy.

 Close to 1200 people showed up for the party and the team trailer was right beside a Beer Tent, so we got a lot of interest in the bikes and the Team, of course no Demo Rides….Drinking and riding doesn’t mix….But my wife and I did give out about 10 team business cards to contact me for a demo ride in the future, so that was pretty cool. Close to 7pm, I started going around telling the parents with kids we were going to have an Easter egg hunt at 7:30…..I was surprised when about 20 kids showed up from ages 1-12 or so. It was pretty awesome watching the older kids finding the eggs then re-hide them again for younger kids. My 6 year Daughter started doing it too…..I just wished I had a camera. But the night ended with a whole lot of thank you, and putting the bikes away, and driving home from a long day.

 Sunday started out with my kid waking me up so she could go see what the Easter Bunny brought her.  She got a couple of stuffed animals and a little bit of candy. Then off to Church!  Man the Catholics are some busy people, I’ll have to tell you about that another time.  After church,  I went back to Terrapin to take down the tents and clean up the trash around  the trailer. Didn’t take long, but decided to drag a trash can around and clean up the entire party area.

 Got home around 1:00 for a great Ham and potato lunch, took a nap, and then went for a 2 hour ride on my Single Speed.

On the way home Rob called me form Clemson and had forgot his back pack, so he drove back to grab it, a friend of his that had come down from Ashville with him made a comment on all the Niner Bikes hanging in the Garage. He said with the all Demos and personal bikes it looked like a Niner Bikes Warehouse.

 Later in the evening Jeremy called and filled me in on the race from Saturday. He said that the only other team to do 8 lap was a men’s duo, that didn’t catch him until the 6 lap. He told me to tell everyone Thank you for all your support.

 So I have to say I had a pretty good weekend,

Monday, March 16,2009

I wanted to start out by telling all of the sponsors thank you for believing in us enough to sponsor the Terrapin Beer race team in 2009.

We got to the 6 hour race this past weekend with 80% chance of rain all day, and  40 degrees outside.  This was our first big chance to see how the team was going to do for 2009. We had David Hall running in the Single Speed solo class, Chris Janiszewski and Jeremy Edge in the 2 man class, while Shey Linder, and Wild Bill Lanzilotta were in the solo class. The race started at 10am under a light rain.  After a parade lap around the field, the guys hit the single track  for a 9.1 mile loop.  Everyone kept looking over at the timing clock, waiting for the racer to come out of the woods and into the field.  It would gave me enough time to get Chris over to the  transition area to hand off the timing chip.  At 47 minutes,   Jeremy then  popped out of the woods and looked like Green Bullet and Shey was right behind him.  At 49:04  off went Chris , Shey right behind him, then Wild Bill. I kept looking around for David wondering if everything was ok.  Someone came over  and told me he had went through right before Bill.  I was puzzled, and excited, he was on a single speed, and  was turning a 50 lap.  For the next 5 hours it was pretty clear that the team was working great together. When they would come through, I was getting updates to pass on to rest of the team.  When the dust settled ( I should say the mud!) David won the single speed class with 7 laps, one of only 2 solo rider to do 7 laps, Jeremy and Chris won the Duo class by 15 +min. Shey came in second in the solo class after a crashing in the 5th lap. Wild Bill got sick and had to stop after the 5^th lap. He was  white as a ghost.  Chris had the fastest lap, and David the second fastest lap.

Everyone had a great time, I had a lot of help from the Hub/Terrapin Club guys that came out to Race and volunteer. One of the guys brought a heater that seem to become very popular as the day progressed.  Andy Christman, one of the club members won the Clydesdale class on his new Niner Jet9.

Next is the East Macon, the 1^st race of the Georgia Series Championship.

Till next week, Cheers.

.