2013 12 Hours of Zombie Apocalypse

Note the message on my number plate.

Some friends of mine like to talk about being struck down by the "cycling gods" on certain days or events. It's our version of karma. Although I don't believe in karma or luck or any other superstitions it's fun to banter back and forth about the rotten things that go wrong in cycling and mountain biking. My recent posts about the Fort Yargo 6 Hr mountain bike mud bowl and the glorious Gran Fondo New York that could have been are supreme examples of cycling god smite.
But not this post. This race follows the path laid out the weekend before by the Jackson Brevet. It happened in perfect weather and with the best of friends. It was yet another great time on a bike.











The 12 Hours of Zombie Apocalypse is the brain child race of Chainbuster Racing's Kenny Griffin. Backed by his sponsor and friends at Nite Rider lighting systems he put on a night race from 9PM Saturday night until 9AM Sunday morning. Just shy of crazy. And to make it that much more fun he called it the Zombie Apocalypse and had a zombie contest and a zombie zone on the course so the undead could spook the riders. My girls loved it!

They were also upset that I didn't bring our tent so they could spend all night being crazy. We'll do that next year for sure. Kenny also had a food truck there from Smiley's serving great food for dinner and breakfast. Add to all that the fact that the moon was full and the closest it would be to the earth all year and you've got the potential for fun that can not be beat!

Randy Hemphill still having fun at 2AM.

Racing on my team of four were David Shabat, Randy Hemphill and Trent Smith. These guys were pumped and ready for action. At least three of us knew exactly what we were in for because we'd done the 24 Hours of Georgia together. Randy was happily ignorant about what 3AM in a mountain bike race means on the miserablility scale.

Our tactics were simple; have fun and don't leave your team mate looking for you in transition. We do well if we eliminate the simple things that cost valuable seconds. Randy was all about being focused and having fun. I like him.

The Start was AWESOME!

I've started many mountain bike races. I've felt the butterflies of nervousness, the excited adrenaline, the focused determination and once I even puked. I don't get nervous anymore, just focused determination but this start was all together different. At this starting line I felt like a super hero! I could hear my family and my team mates yelling my name! Once we turned our lights on we became rock stars! We launched from the smoke at the starting horn to the cheers of the crowd. It was awesome! Looking at the pictures I can see why folks were so excited.

The photos were taken by H&H Multimedia. Great job!

I rode away from the start with a small group of guys but we were all chasing some 95 pound kid I've never seen before. He took off like a rocket but I wasn't about to chase him because he started looking back. Looking back is a tell. It tells me you're tired. But tired or not he hammered far enough away that when we finally made the single track I couldn't see him anymore. I moved past the two guys in front of me and ended up dropping them. So I was alone and chasing the kid. Right up until I crashed. On the first downhill section at the power lines I came into the turn back into the woods too hot and slid down. It would've been ok accept that my chain was off and twisted. By the time I got it back on I'd been passed by 5 people. And evidently a link was twisted badly enough that with each pedal stroke it would catch on the cog above. It created a skip in my pedal stroke that would've really angered a lesser man. All I could do was finish as fast as possible.

I came through the transition area second and handed off to Randy. The girls were over at the Zombie Zone which is where the zombies gathered until midnight to stagger toward the racers as they pass. They were having a blast. I ate and drank and filmed the transition of Randy to David.

I want to say a special thank you to Todd Fisher. He didn't come to race, he actually came to support Dustin Mealor's solo effort with all his tools and a bike stand and positive energy. They set up a tent right next to us and Todd handed Dustin bottles all night.
When I returned from my first lap I started telling the tale and Todd grabbed my bike when he heard about the chain. Before I knew it he had removed the bad link and put it back together. After that I didn't have another problem shifting or pedaling all night. Many thanks Todd!!

We raced past midnight and bounced between 2nd and 3rd. Then at one point we actually moved into 1st place. We thought our averages and our strategy would win the day... or night... as it were. I went to the timing table to inquire about our competition and here's what I learned. The team in 1st was a father, a son, an uncle and a friend. So they thought. The only thing they knew for sure was the father/son part. The son was their ringer. He's the kid I chased at the start. Probably weighs less than 100 pounds and is fast as lighting. They would put this kid out there for two laps at a time and then each of them would do one. So the kid would put them back into 1st every time he went out. His name was Jake Morman. They were very smart to work him the way they did.

Around 3:00AM things began to deteriorate. Our bodies were starting to get tired and our minds played tricks on us. The best quotes came from David. He was convinced of the presence of Unicorns. If you hear him saying weird things in the videos don't worry... it all makes sense to him.

I realized then that we had been violating one of our rules, have fun, by worrying over the opportunity to get 1st. I expressed my desire to stop talking strategy and start talking nonsense and pick on each other. The guys were all about it and so in the waning hours before daylight we settled into a campfire and friends sort of mood.

Finally the dawn. The morning always brings a sense of relief and anticipation. All the family members who slept in tents and campers started coming out to see how the race was going. And to get something for breakfast from the Smiley's truck. There was a heavy dew on everything that wasn't directly under a tent. The air was heavy with humidity but the temperature was nice and 60 degrees.

This video shows "the kid" waiting next to David. He's going to leave and do two laps before turning it over to a team mate for one final lap. At this point our only hope was if they had a mechanical. So we just rode hard and hoped for the worst... for them.

It all came down to the final lap I would be making. We already knew that I couldn't possibly make up the minutes we were down but there was always the possibility of a mechanical or crash on their part so I got jacked up for one more round of mash hysteria.
Before I went to transition I ate two mustard packs (for cramping) and a double caffeine gel. It would be daylight the whole time so I didn't need lights. Trent came flying in and off I went to see what the cycling gods had in store.
The course was much different in the daylight. You could see the lines you should take. You could negotiate the bridges better and avoid the poop mud. It was my best lap of the race. I beat their guy by 2 minutes but that didn't put a dent in their overall lead. That kid single handedly whipped our tails.

A fine 2nd Place in the 12 Hours of Zombie Apocalypse!

 After the fun of the awards we packed up and went our separate ways. David and I went to Cracker Barrel for some "mama's" and coffee. We talked about the race and our great families and how stinking tired we were. We enjoyed the stares from folks looking at our freaky Zombie shirts. People listened intently as we answered our waitresses questions about what we'd been doing. Both of us knew that in the days after this we'd look back on the 12 Hours of Zombie Apocalypse and be grateful for the fun and competition provided by mountain bike racing. We both agreed that Chainbuster Racing must do this race again next year. Can you hear me Kenny!

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Now I give you the short and sweet tale of woe from Dustin Mealor who despite being as under trained as I've ever seen him in recent years signed up for the Solo Expert Category. Hmm. Whatever dude. Dustin lasted half the night. His tale begins now:


It's interesting to notice things in races.  I can honestly say that I had no idea how bad I would perform this weekend due to just not being mentally ready to race all night.  Had this race been a day-time affair I honestly can't say things would have turned out differently, but I was shocked at my inability to soldier on like the "me" of the past.  I ate poop mud hard on the first lap.  It was one of those slower crashes, which always seem to be the worse.  I tried to go up and over a rock formation and caught the lip just right.  Threw me up and over the bars and flat on my face, which had the blow lessened by my hand which I, in a newbie-like fashion, reached out to stop my fall.  After that the rest of my lap was fine.

The second lap I ended up behind the dude that went to the hospital.  Seriously, this dude passes me at the top of the climb and I think to myself "man I hope this guy is a fast downhill".  Not that I'm a bomber on the descents, but I can hold my own (thanks to the teachings of Craig Tinsley).  No sooner do I think this to myself than crashes in spectacular fashion and I end up ditching via a slide to not bulldog his face with my front tire.  In a not-so-me fashion I ditch my bike and run over to him to make sure he's fine.  I stayed with him for probably 2-3 minutes until he convinced me to get back on the bike and go.  I found out later that he went to the hospital with a separated shoulder.

The rest of the race was just weird.  It's weird in that I was on the bike and I was racing, but I made so many small mistakes everything just seemed to run together.  I know better than to take breaks in these races.  In the expert class every lap and every minute matters.  Yet, I seemed to stop almost every lap to grab bottles that I had not laid out for myself and food that I just had piled up and not planned well.  I really thank Todd Fisher for being there and supporting me, but this race just didn't happen for me.  I never could quite get into a groove.  After five laps I just got tired of being on the bike.  I think at that point I just mentally said "forget this" and gave up.  Really not my style, but if you're not feeling it you're not feeling it.  Next year will be different...

Dustin Mealor

So there you have it. Another great adventure with friends and family. The next few months will be primarily road racing so not as much fun. But we'll do our best and not take ourselves too seriously. It is just a hobby after all.

Can't wait to see you all out there!!

Chad Hayes

2012 Newton County Omnium

Yet again I'm sitting in my living room watching TV with my girls after a weekend of tough racing. We're watching Kung Fu Panda II. It's not as funny as the first one. More drama, less funny. But I love watching their facial expressions.

Instructions at the CAT4 Crit start.

Two weeks ago Star Bridges sent me a long message detailing how he'd already booked us a room in Covington for the Newton Co. Omnium. His plan was designed to pass muster with my priority list by having us leave at 2PM on Saturday for the evening crit, spend the night and do the road race in the morning. Back by 2PM Sunday. Of course I hooked up. I invited Stephen Sisk to join us because he said he didn't have any family at home this weekend anyway.  I got to see my daughter Ellie graduate in her Karate class and then we had lunch. Star and Stephen met me at my house and we headed south.

The CAT4 crit was at 5:40pm. Star and I lined up for it and Stephen took some great pictures of the suffering. It was almost 90 degrees at the start but fortunately the clouds rolled in and gave us some relief. The clouds were a precursor to what would come in the morning.

The race started on a hill. A hill we had to race up every lap. It made the race tough for sure. The hill would slowly pitch up and then when you got to the turn at the top it kicked up one more time.

There were constant attacks on that hill and I even tried my hand at a few. It hurt. I burned a few too many matches doing it but that was my plan since the Athens Twilight race. Since then I decided that whenever I race CAT4 I'm going to attack or otherwise stay on the front, if I can, to avoid a crash.

Star Bridges

Star raced like the veteran he is. Conserving energy and staying with the lead group. At one point we found each other and he told me he thought the outside line on the run up to the finish was the fasted way to go. I kept that in mind for the last lap.
The winner for the day made a great move. With 3 laps to go he was at the front for the climb. At the turn he sprinted to the top and then hammered over the apex and down the back side hill. Star said he had a big gap within no time. I missed the move completely. The guys on the front at the time evidently didn't have the legs to go with him and by the time anyone could mount a chase he was out of sight. Smooth move.

If I'd known there was a guy off the front I'd have wasted what energy I had left chasing him for Star. As it was I just sat in and tried to survive for the sprint. I couldn't see Star in front of me when we  climbed the hill on the last lap so I figured he'd find my wheel on the outside for the sprint.

I never heard him say my name so I stuck to a rider's wheel from Reality Bikes. We flew down the hill and started the sprint up to the finish line. I couldn't come around the Reality guy and lost some heart when I saw all the riders to the inside going faster than me to the line. I did the best sprint I could but ended up 20th. I was kind of dismayed. I sprinted so hard it made me light headed so I turned around and rode down to the wheel pit tent, passing back over the finish line which you're not supposed to do when we have timing chips. Stephen was there to tell me what a good job I did. I like Stephen.

When Star got there he told me that he got trapped on the inside but it turned out to be faster because there was less ground to cover. We'll make a note of that for next time.
As we talked I started feeling sick. I needed to go sit down so we went back to the van and I did just that. I poured some ice water on my head and began to immediately feel better. The guys took really good care of me.
We packed up the van and found some great food for carb loading at Mellow Mushroom.

I didn't sleep very well, being away from home I never do, but I tried sleeping in my Hincapie compression tights and they worked well. My legs felt fresh when we got up. It was going to be a good day to race...and then we looked outside. It was raining... hard.
Oh well. We're here. And breakfast is waiting.

The Butcher, The Baker, The Pancake Maker

We all stared for a while at the pancake machine. Maybe we're out of touch but none of us had ever seen a pancake machine. I had three. They were delicious. It took 90 seconds to make one pancake...in case you need to know.

Then we packed the van and headed for our race in the rain. This time all three of us would race the Masters 35+ race at 9:40AM. It was a very depressing scene when we rolled up to the staging area. Lots of soaked volunteers, Cycling Officials, Police officers and cyclists. I deeply appreciate the efforts of all the folks to put on a great race despite the weather. It was very well organized.

 The pouring rain made everything harder. We learned the Pro race had been shortened and hoped that ours would be as well. No complaints here. But we prepared for 60 miles anyway. We spotted Sean Philyaw's car on the way in. He raced the CAT4 race and brought home a 9th place finish!

We got ready and rolled up to the staging area in the driving rain. They announced the race would be shortened to 30 miles. Once we started I emptied one of my water bottles and we settled in for a long ride through flooding roads.
As the miles ticked by there were a few attacks that got brought back and my veteran team mate made a simple observation...there were no counter attacks. So he told me the next catch was my time to go. My time came on a long drag of an uphill. Star took me to the front and launched a vicious attack while I rode in his slip stream. As soon as he pulled off I punched it and didn't let up until the top of the hill. When I looked back I had a really great gap so I stood up and kicked it over the top and then got out on the tip of my saddle to see if I could mash my way to a victory. My legs were screaming at me but I channeled my inner Jens Voigt and kept mashing.



When I finally got the nerve to look back I saw two chasers about half way to me. I eased up just a little and when they got there we began rotating. OK, now I'm assured of a podium. I found more energy to drive the pace. Then one of them said he was over his limit and asked for 3 minutes out of the rotation. He promised not to sprint if we made it all the way. Now I saw at least 2nd Place in my future. I was inspired. I took off my glasses and drilled it from the tip of my saddle. Like Cancellara...only not like Cancellara. We rotated for 8 more miles before the tactics of our enemies proved too much and we were caught. At least two of us were very, very disappointed. I was both of them.
We slowed and spread out so the field would find it hard to attack. And that worked! Another tactic I'll file away for the future.
Star made his way up to me and offered some consolation. I told him I wasn't done. Since I just blew myself up I wanted to drive the pace for a while to keep things close for him till the end. Yeah. That only lasted a few miles before I was done. I found my compatriots Star and Stephen sitting in the field waiting for the finish. I put my glasses back on because for the first time in a long while I was getting the gritty spray from the back wheels of the field.
Soon we were flying downhill through some swanky neighborhood. I say swanky because there were roundabouts to navigate and that made me think of some high end subdivisions back home. The pace picked up and we were strung out in a long line snaking through the roads. Any moment I figured we'd be taking a "right" back onto the road where the finish line was. The right we took was a left. The left we took was only 500 meters from the finish line. I must have missed the 1K to go banner. Long story short...Star got 11th and I got 12th. It was the best we could do on such short notice. Stephen lost the group on the run in but finished within seconds of the main field. I was very happy for him. He wasn't real keen on racing in the pouring rain. You'd think he had a titanium vertebrae in his back or something.

Stephen and Star...dry at last.

We finished just in time to see the heavy rain stop for a few hours.    Nice.
We changed out of our water logged clothes and started talking about the race. Life was so much better once we were through. Warm and dry. Tired and spent. It's actually a great combination. You feel "Alive"!

Sean Philyaw

I wanted to find some others and see how they did so we rolled through the parking to get the news. Baxter's was well represented with Nathan O'Neill and company. We stayed relaxed in our van and accosted people. Most of the riders were in different stages of transition after their race. In a lot of cases we saw them standing at the back of their cars staring into them with an look of "What should I be doing?" or "What just happened?" We found Sean Philyaw looking svelte in his dry clothes and glasses. He wasn't happy about the run in to the finish either. We talked turkey and then headed to Moe's for some well deserved burrito's. We also stopped for coffee "again" because Star's head will explode if he doesn't have coffee every 4 hours.

Star's Coffee

I'm calling this trip a success because we had no crashes and we made it home with everything we brought. A fine trip into the southern reaches.

This Saturday is the Jackson Brevet. I don't know why they call it a brevet because it doesn't meet any of the requirements to be called a brevet but none the less I shall participate. And with 2,000 other riders I'm told. We'll see. And you'll see because I'll take pictures.



Enjoy your Father's Day weekend everyone!

Chad Hayes