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About Us
News Photos Testimonials HSE Staff: Jono Senk I Ling Matthews Claire Pate Javaun Moradi Brian Rumple Sam Council Jon Barker Paul Cox Bill Vickers Bryan Goble Ryan Castleberry John Klekamp, M.D. Jesse Selwyn Andrew Jacobs Artur Sagat Madeleine Pilchard Scott Perkins Guest Instructors: Martin Strong Dr.Michael Wax
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A week before the start of 12 Hours of Dirty Spokes I gave Jono a call. I told him that this was my first 12 hour SOLO mountain bike Race, and that I was not ready. I didn't believe I could do it - I wanted to bail out. I wanted to do 6 hour solo - not 12. I felt I wasn’t strong enough; mentally or physically. "Buck Up little Buddy-Remember... ‘Spartans Never Surrender, Spartans Never Retreat!!!’" - is what JONO told me. He also told me I could do whatever I thought was right. But I knew that if I didn't do the 12 -I wouldn't live down the regret. So on May 5th I stood at the starting line - ready to race 12 hours solo. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The group took off, and after a parade lap around the transition area, we entered to woods onto the single track. It went pretty well. I never got stuck behind any slower people. I was there to race my own race. At my own pace. Lap two I caught up to the solo leaders. We all were going steady. Fast would be another word for it I guess. Then at lap five the 6 hour solo guy got dropped. So now it was the three 12 hour solo guys having at it. Pro Mountain Biker, Shey Linder, took it up a few notches on lap 6. It was still the three of us. On the next lap - I took the lead and took it up another notch. We dropped Shane (he got 3rd). Shey tells me, “It's just you and me now.” Oh great! On Lap 7 Shey took it up another 5738 notches. I said, “No way!” From then on, we were all by ourselves. Shane Schreihart in third, me in second, and Shey in first. It stayed that way all the way up to the podium.
Some of the motivation came from Jono's phone calls that I kept getting - telling me to "Rip their legs off and shred the competition!!!" And some more motivation from Craig Gordon's victory at lat years 24 Hours of Adrenalin SOLO World Championships - where he beat 6 time winner Chris Eatough. The rest? I donno… I guess it was the raging Spartan inside of my 19 year old 130 pound body - refusing to quit retreat and surrender.
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