Before knowing Dave I didn't realize that these types of races existed - literally a 24 hour race. There are various divisions ranging from solo riders up to five person teams, and from "just for fun" to pro. Dave rides in the solo mens division and Bach Builders sponsors several other solo riders and teams. These athletes are insane to watch! The solo riders literally ride their mountain bikes on a difficult, technical loop trail for 24 hours, taking just minutes of a break between each lap. Even with five people on a team that is a lot of mountain biking! I don't think I could do this.
I drove down to Moab to meet up with Dave and his team - I had never been to Moab so I took a few photographs of my surroundings as well:
The race began at noon on October 11th and the racers would continue to start laps until noon on October 12th. The winner of each division was the person or team with the most laps, and if competitors had the same number of laps, the person with the fastest time to the finish line wins. As if racing for 24 hours isn't difficult enough, the weather was not in our favor. We had sustained winds of 30 miles per hour for most of the race, and gusts up to 70. The night was also freezing cold - we even saw a few snowflakes! It was fairly miserable weather for everyone, the racers and their support teams, but it was a great experience! You can find more details on the race itself at the Granny Gear Productions Moab page.
Here is one photo of part of the campground where the support teams were stationed along the course.
The race began with a LeMans start. Each racer runs from the starting line out to a certain point in the field and back again. They then pick up their bike and start their first lap.
You can see the dust already in the air - only some of which is from the racers. The wind was so strong it was blowing dust and sand around the entire race. Boy were my camera and lenses dirty the the end - and so was I!
Here are a few photographs of the racers sponsored by Bach Builders:
And a few of racers from other teams:
My husband always says that the wipeout photos of any sport are even better than the ones where an athlete makes it - the crashes just make for more spectacular photos! So of course I have to include a couple of the best crashes I had the opportunity to photograph. No one was seriously injured in the falls - the riders all got up and kept racing.
As the sun set, the temperature dropped - boy was it cold. Eventually the winds did die down, but not until very late!
In the morning, while the adult racers continued their trek, they had a 24 Minutes of Moab race for the kiddos. They were all so adorable I had to grab a few shots of them as well.
Finally, the race drew to a close. And one of the riders that Bach Builders sponsors won the Men's Solo divison. Congratulations to Josh Tostado for an impressive victory!! Here are a few shots of Josh's last couple laps and his victory.
He beat several world renowned mountain bike racers, including Tinker Juarez, a US mountain bike Olympic medalist, and Chris Eatough.
Another team, named Shake and Bake, that Bach Builders sponsors, won the Duo Pro division. Congratulations to Dax Massey and Dean Miller! Here is a photo of one of them... unfortunately I'm not sure which one he is.
It was amazing to see these racers throughout this entire event. They all showed a huge amount of fortitude, heart and competitive spirit and it was wonderful to watch. Thank you Dave for having me photograph this incredible event! I hope to shoot more of these in the future so stay tuned!!
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