8 Hours of Labor

Another endurance race in the record books! The 8 Hours of Labor was another fun race and I couldn't have done it without my teammates - Mose Howard and David Long. Entered the Three Man Team competition and through hard work and sweat made it to 2nd place on the podium!

The course was absolutely perfect - not a lot of technical sections, but very flowy. There was a good amount of climbing, as well. The race started off with a LeMans start ran by Mose Howard. We made a great choice in having Mose start - he can run like the wind and got the hole shot. Mose came through scoring in first place after his first lap with Michael Danish on his wheel. The two opened up a several minute gap between all the other riders. I was second for our team and when Mose handed me the wrist band I was in it to win it! The 8.5 mile lap was a quick one for me, but I knew I would have to hold myself back a bit in order not to burn out early. According to my Garmin I managed to pull off a 36.45 minute lap. Handing off the wrist band to David I was feeling good. David pulled off another quick lap and we were fighting for first place. 

Mose handing off the wrist band after his first lap

As we continued on in the race it seemed to get hotter and hotter. According to one racer, the heat index was 114 degrees! Hydration was key to making sure that we would maintain a podium position. Because of this I was able to stay consistent with an average of around 37 minute lap times. After 12 long, hard laps we just weren't able to pull off that first place finish. Team Top Gear was simply too fast for us! 

We are super proud of our lap times and how we raced! Thanks to our sponsor, Bents Cyclery & Fitness, for all of their support. Couldn't do it without you guys! Shout out to my family and all our racing friends for their encouragement. Big kudos to Team This Is Our Race Pace (my mom, dad, and Katie racing their first race) for a great job despite a final DNF due to a mechanical. My brother Morgan continues to impress us with his fast lap times! Keep your eyes out for him...he's the future of this sport! Finally, thank you to my sponsors: SpyOptics for the most awesome sunglasses that always keep the sun and the dirt out of my eyes; SockGuy for my super comfortable socks; and TwinSix for a truly phenomenal kit that kept me comfortable during my preride.