Terra Firma Racing puts on an amazing race and this is one you need to consider for next year. The Dirty Dozen is a 12-Hr or 6-Hr mountain bike race for solo riders and relay teams on a 7ish mile single track course (Bluff Creek Ranch in Warda, TX). The vibe, the company of great people, and the Fireball makes this one totally worth it!

Warda is about 3 1/2 hours away from DFW, so most of our members showed up Friday, Feb. 5th. It was a chilly evening spent around the fire, drinking beverages, and chowing down on some of Mr. Castro’s finest foods. After a good night’s rest, we were charged up and ready to throw down on Saturday morning. With 30+, that’s right – THIRTY PLUS, members in attendance, we were prepared to dominate. Everywhere you looked, there was a red jersey in sight.

Everyone gathered for the pre-race meeting and then the race quickly started with a Le Mans start. Racers dashed into the woods twisting through the pines and over the roots. Team members as well as other racers cheered and supported one another as the day continued. One of the best parts of this race was approaching the BWR heckle corner where teammates cheered on racers (er – something like that), handed up shots of Fireball, and jammed out to some sweet tunes.

Just as we had hoped, many of our BWR members finished strong. James Beas placed 4th in the 12-Hr Solo Open Male category. Marcus Gillespie placed 4th and Brad Wendling placed 7th in the 12-Hr Single Speed Male category. Marcus Mendoza placed 4th, Randy Davis placed 6th, David Deery placed 8th, Nathan Delahoussaye placed 10th, and Greg Campbell placed 13th in the 12-Hr Solo Sport Male category. James Henson placed 2nd in the 12-Hr Solo Grand Poobah category. The Richard Gears, Mark Thompson and Braden Barnett, placed 5th and the Dirt Dudes, Wes Salas and Mike D’Aurelio, placed 7th in the 12-Hr 2 Person Male category. In the 12-Hr 4 Person Male category, Jonathan Braddick, Mando Zermeno, Logan Davis, and Dennis Vollmer placed 5th. Moreece placed 6th with his team in the same category. Bearded Women Racing Rockstars – Melissa Dalton, Brittany Smith, Reba Becker, and Lauren Lay – placed 1st in the 12-Hr 4 Person Female category. Kelly Hart, Judge Rucker, and Kate Castro placed 2nd in the 12-Hr 4 Person Coed category. Sadly, Dylan Garrigan didn’t get to race with them as he injured his finger right before the race began. In the 12-Hr 4 Person Masters category, Minh Nguyen, Daniel Johnson, Eric Swarvar, and Blake york took home 3rd place. Nick Castro, Mike Carroll, Shane Woodhall, Riley Moore, and Clint Fenske earned 2nd placed in the 12-Hr 5 Person Grande category. Last but not least, Brad McDaniel placed 18th in the 6-Hr Solo Sport Male category.

Dirty Dozen 2016

“Giddy up, y’all!” was the feeling at Texas Chainring Massacre. The brisk 30 degree temps didn’t keep the Bearded Women away. We had a showing of over 7 members getting out and riding the gravel. Spinistry put on the best route and had a huge turnout of people.

Big shout out to Raul, Brad McDaniel, and Brad Wendling. New member, Russell Scott went out to accomplish 50 miles on his MTB. At mile 20, Russell’s derailleur blew up and was found stranded. Teammates, Raul and Brad, stopped and fixed him up as a single speed. Russell pushed on and completed the whole route with the badass support of Brad who reserved his ride to help out a fellow teammate.

Riders, Judge Rucker and Mando Mex, took on the feat with one gear! They took on climbs and distance and battled the grueling temperatures to take 2^nd and 3^rd place in the category. What a great day for Bearded Women Racing!

Several beards took advantage of the beautiful weather on January 31st and raced at the Overdose @ OCNP endurance event put on by Lonestar XC. What made this day extra special was that it was the first race for Nicolas Gauring, James Beas and Marcus Mendoza as BWR members.

Overdose offered several racing options 1 lap dash, 2 lap sprint, 4 lap marathon, and the ultimate test of an 8 lap ultra-marathon. Blake York put in an amazing performance and took 2nd place in the ultra-marathon finishing in 5:35:34. James Beas battled severe cramping by the 4th lap, but he persevered and finished strong, finishing 8th. Randy Davis was feeling great throughout the race and took 13th.

The competition for the 4 lap marathon was intense as 4 riders fought for the top spot, one of which was our very own Nicolas Gaurin. The leader attempted to lose him throughout the race and Nicolas would reel him in every time, getting within 1 second on the 2nd and 3rd lap. Nicolas ultimately took 2nd with a time of 2:26:13. Marcus Mendoza took advantage of his day off from being a bike cop by riding his bike 32 miles and placing 53rd. David Deery put in a stellar performance and finished 90th overall and 7th for the mature gentleman division of 50+.

Our very own team captain, Nick Castro, competed in the 2 lap sprint and came in 107th overall and as the only Clydesdale he dominated that category, taking home a 3rd place flask for the sub-categories. He reported receiving several slaps to his bottom from teammates and may be permanently scarred.

A special thank you goes out to Minh Nguyen and his family. They showed up to offer moral support and the use of their cooler.