The Texas Time Trials, October 19-21, 2006
BIKE AROUND THE WORLD IN 48 HOURS!

That's exactly what approximately 130 racers did in Cleburne, Texas during The 2006 Texas Time Trials, resulting in a 30% increase in racers over 2005. Joining racers from 25 states, there was also an entry from the UK. TTTT is a series of 4 races, The Tejas 500, 24-Hour Time Trial, the UMCA 12-Hour North American Championship and the 6-Hour Time Trial and every race had exciting races within each race.

Every course brings it's own challenges; TTTT offers a 20-mile scenic looped course. By scenic, Mother Nature means challenging hills (riders reported 750-1,000' of climbing per loop, depending on which GPS software was used), cold temperatures at night, heat during the day and winds that were ever changing. Throw in racers determined to break or set 16 new course records and you've got a Texas-sized dogfight in the making!

THE TEJAS 500

The Tejas 500 (named by John Lee Ellis) enjoyed its largest field of racers ever and set 5 new course records! 26 solo riders and 27 team riders totaled 53 registered riders. The Tejas 500 has 3 start times so teams and faster riders finish as close to the awards ceremony (and dinner!) as possible. Most solo riders chose the 48-hour start. Teams consisted of (1) 4-person mixed team "Team Big Safari", (5) 4-man teams, with 1 team only having 3 members and (2) 2-man teams.

"Team Assassin" set a new course record of 26:38:45 for 500.25 miles, with "Team AD-HD Seniors" finishing about 30 minutes behind them and the "Maltese Mashers" finishing less than an hour behind them. The 2-person team of Medina/Villani beat out Cook/Myers with an impressive finish time of 29:25:58, a new 2-man course record for The Tejas 500. It was great fun watching the different team strategies. While some would change racers every lap, others had team members out for extended periods so teammates could sleep.

The male solo race started with 48-hour starters Pat Nolan and Todd Kalchbrenner battling neck and neck the entire race finally finishing less than 1 hour apart after 500 miles. The 36-hour start brought on another dogfight. Mark Pattinson (TN), Joel Sothern (TX), Virgil Moehsmer (MO), who earned 2nd place in last year's Tejas 500 , Matthew Cazalas (MO) and Paul Rozelle (OH) raced hard and all finished within the allotted 36 hours. Mark Pattinson set a new course record of 29:59:04 for the 500.25 miles. Also finishing the 500 were Richard Rupp (IN), Peter vanDerLinden (CO), Dewayne Shepard (TX) and Chris Anderson (TX). If only the applause for Chris Anderson's finish could have been taped. Our last 500 miler completed his last lap so close to the 48-hour limit that racers and Volunteers all applauded and some even gave him a standing ovation. He personifies the TTTT spiritŠ.never quit.

The female solo race was also exciting as Brenda Barnell (TX), the only female to ever complete this course, traded blows with Caroline Atkins (NC). The two ladies were seconds apart the first lap with Carolyn leading with a 1:05:52 split. By lap 11, Brenda had pulled ahead by about 5 minutes. Sadly, after lap 14, Caroline had knee problems causing her to pack up for the long drive home.

Several riders showed up with handicaps. Tony Goodnight recovering from a dog crash. Joe Castelli from a recent sickness and other riders who were not 100% still came out to give it their best. In all, The Tejas 500 retired half its' racers before they achieved the 500miles, but even with a 50% DNF rate, all but 2 of the riders that did finish qualified for RAAM.

THE 24-HOUR TIME TRIAL

24-Hour Time Trial racers hit the 20-mile loop Friday, October 20 at 5:30pm. This year's 24-hour challenged not only had 29 solo riders and (1) 2-person mixed team, but one of the most interesting stats was the addition of three world-class recumbent riders! John Schlitter (FL) not only won his solo male recumbent division, he bested every standard bike solo rider. James Kern (CA) also covered 400 miles for 2nd place in the recumbent division followed by Chris Kaiser (GA), famous for his mega-miles in the UMCA mileage challenge.

The mixed team of Martin/Miller (TX) set a new course record of 380.19 miles. In the solo male race, Robert Smith (AK) won the 24-hour solo male with 360.18 miles in 23:34:30. TTTT regular, John Guth (VA), who qualified for RAAM at The Tejas 500 last year, took 2nd place, while his wife, Nancy Guth (VA) won 1st place in the female 24-hour race followed by Lauren Fithian (MN) and Ronaele Foss (CO).

THE UMCA 12-HOUR NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The UMCA 12-Hour North American Championship was a heated contest from the start. This was the first year for TTTT to host the National Championship race and it not only increased the size and speed of the field, but also the diversity. 24 solo riders (7 females), our first female/female tandem, 1 mixed tandem, 1 mixed team. Joining these racers, was the first TTTT male recumbent team and our first female recumbent racer ever

A course record was set by the female tandem team of Kellogg/Rigby (CA) as they were our first female/female tandem, but in talking with them before the race, they indicated they weren't striving to win the female tandem race, but joked they came from California to see how many boys they could beat! Our first TTTT male recumbent team of Ralls/Torrey (TX) finished 200 miles in 11:48:41 for a course record. The mixed tandem team of Denise and Rick Neptune (TX) finished an impressive 238.39 miles (smiling and laughing every mile) in 11:59:59 for a course record. The mixed team of Olsen/Olsen (TX) set a new course record with 208.84 miles.

Recumbent female racer, Sarah Kay Carrell (KS), set a new course record, as did recumbent male racer, Dennis Johnson (TX).

The female solo race was well attended with 6 women. Raynelle Shelley (TX) won with 180 miles in 11:33:49, followed by Karen Hunnicutt (TX) also with 180 miles in 11:41:14.

The male solo 12-hour was "one heck of a race!" Eric Jensen (MA) won by about 1 mile over Chris Hopkinson of the UK, setting a new course record of 240.12 miles in 11:53:28, over 20 mph for 12 hours. On THIS course, he deserved the win! 2nd place Chris Hopkinson, 3rd place Sam Baugh (TX) and 4th place Wesley Wilmer (VA) have all raced TTTT before and everyone was happy to see them return. This race was so close that ALL did the pro-rated lap!

THE 6-HOUR TIME TRIAL

The 6-Hour Time Trial produced still more records! The first-ever TTTT male tandem entry of Flickner/Ruiz (TX) walked away with an easy course record.

Not so easy was Brian Hasenbauer's (TX) record-setting pace. Brian beat his own record set in 2003. As a former professional triathlete, Brian knows bikes and knows how to ride them fast! 2nd place finisher, Jack Weiss (TX), was last year's winner. At 61, Jack's name still scares other racers. In all, 7 racers completed 100 miles or more.

Shanna (Banana) Armstrong (TX) finished first in the female solo race, still fresh, even after winning Furnace Creek 2 weeks prior. Deanna Showalter, 4-time TTTT racer, finished 2nd.

Helping make TTTT the great reunion it is becoming, our race site the New Hope Baptist Church, offers great camping under giant oak trees, easy access to the road and a covered pavilion that quickly becomes the hub of all activity. With racers registering, volunteers eating, computers heating up as results come in and a roaring fireplace, this is the center of the universe for 48 hours. Our host goes above and beyond anyone's dreams, not only opening their doors and hearts to a bunch of tired cyclists, but feeding everyone breakfast Saturday morning, then providing a hot dog feast before the awards ceremony Saturday night.

The glue holding the whole TTTT together is the volunteers. More than 40 volunteers showed up to support ultra-cycling, some like Dennis and Donna Beasley, Rani Freeman and H.C. Gordon worked all day, every day, just like they have the previous 3 years. Others joined us for the first time. One of the biggest jokes was "when was YOUR last all-nighterŠ.when you weren't on a bike?"

Gina Vandiver, winner of last year's 24-hour female solo race, raced double Ironman 2 weeks before TTTT, drove over 200 miles and still volunteered all night. Frank Bouchard officiated the race again. As with the 3 previous years, Frank not only officiates the entire 48-hour race, but also works diligently to improve the race structure every year.

Keeping the 20-mile looped course format makes it possible for riders to "crew themselves" from the back of vehicles (no follow vehicles allowed). This also encourages a great social experience at the start/finish line for riders preparing to ride, crewmembers waiting for riders, and volunteers. For a complete list of riders, awards, race times, splits, sponsors, volunteers, riders comments and reports, please visit www.tt24tt.com.

If you were left out of this report, please send a race report to dansmark@flash.net and we will try to post it!