The first time in our young team’s history we were able to field solid groups of racers for two coinciding endurance races on the same day in different parts of the state! Mind you, we’ve been going to the Dirty Dozen Endurance Mountain Bike Race for years as individuals, but this time around it was even more meaningful to those that participated. You see, it was our unofficial one year anniversary as a team. It’s inception came from a late night of good times around a campfire, and the dream to start a club team we all hoped would draw people to racing for fun and competition.
Last year, we placed 4th overall in the 12 hr, 4 man open category, so we were looking to improve on our very first placing and payout. This year we fielded 2 four man teams for the 12 hr race, and 1 two man team for the 6 hr race, all male. We’ll get our first women racer soon! The day was perfect, as the temperatures were comfortable, it was overcast, and there was an ever so slight, on and off rain fall throughout the day which made for a very compact and fast course! The top group entered of Jesse Bernal, Brad Wendling, Nathan Delahoussaye, and Marcus Gillespie hung around the 2nd and 3rd place spot the entire day, and finished in 3rd place on the podium, the highest placing our team as ever done at this event! A mechanical caused an issue on one lap, but each guy was putting in consistent lap times to keep them in contention. The next 4 man group consisting of Jonathan Braddick, Moreece Griffin, Logan Davis, and James Henson were keeping pace. Moreece and Logan were participating in their first 12 hour endurance race, and both exceeded their own expectations! The 6 hr, 2 man group consisted of our first father and son racers, Michael and Austin Ham. Both live in Brian/College Station, and were entering their first ever endurance race!
In the end all groups did an amazing job, but furthermore the weekend tightened and strengthened our resolve to field an even bigger group for next year’s race!
Here are the overall results from the Dirty Dozen Endurance race in Warda, TX:
- 12 hr, 3-4 person Open
- Jesse Bernal, Brad Wendling, Nathan Delahoussaye, Marcus Gillespie
- 3rd place out of 8 teams, 18 laps, 11:36:13.52
- Jonathan Braddick, Moreece Griffin, Logan Davis, James Henson
- 7th place out of 8 teams, 15 laps, 11:25:44.02
- Jesse Bernal, Brad Wendling, Nathan Delahoussaye, Marcus Gillespie
- 6 hr, 2 person Open
- Michael Ham, Austin Ham
- 20th place out of 22 teams, 6 laps, 05:52:12.45
- Michael Ham, Austin Ham
Back up in the DFW area, another important race was happening in Oak Cliff at the Oak Cliff Nature Preserve. DORBA’s Frozen Endurance series had endured two cancellations from mother nature in the form of winter and fire, leaving the series without a completed race.
The team fielded 6 racers, new Cat 1 racing member Mike D’ Aurelio and last year’s Best Endurance Race Placing winner Randy Davis in the 6 hr open, new Cat 3 racing member Corey Fawcett and new Cat 3 racing member Armando Zermeno in the 4 hr open, and Shane Walden and Wes Salas as a team in the 6 hr relay.
Overall, BWR had a total of 16 racers on a dirt single track, grinding away and putting all of their heart and legs into it this past weekend. Congratulations gentlemen!
Here are the overall results from the DORBA Frozen Series race at OCNP:
- 6 hour, Open
- Mike D’ Aurelio, 23rd place out of 37, 7 laps, 6:23:45
- Randy Davis, 28th place out of 37, 6 laps, 6:18:12
- 4 hour, Open
- Corey Fawcett, 27th place out of 60, 5 laps, 4:02:14
- Armando Zermeno, 34th place out of 60, 5 laps, 4:12:31
- 6 hour, Relay
- Shane Walden and Wes Salas, 6th place out of 8 teams, 8 laps, 6:57:04
Bearded Women Racing 
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