Olympic Course Chooses its Champions
Local couple and team survive endurance battle at '96 Summer Games venue

CONYERS, Georgia--Pre-race favorites and Atlanta residents Eddie and Namrita O'Dea won the Men's and Women's Solo categories at the Suzuki 24 Hours of Conyers on May 17 and 18 at Georgia International Horse Park, the venue used for the 1996 Olympic Games mountain bike events.

The his and hers titles were expected for the local couple, who also shone in the series opener at Vail Lake, near San Diego, last month. Georgia-based riders and teams dominated the results from the rolling, single-track heavy course, lending credibility to the concept of "home-field" advantage.

The Five-Man Faster Mustache team took both category and overall titles, riding 30 laps in 24 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds. The team with the tongue-in-cheek name, whose schtick includes having members ride while wearing fake mustaches, is comprised of Atlanta-area residents.

Eddie O'Dea
photo:C. Mesta/mestaphotos.us

All joking aside, Faster Mustache were pushed hard into the 24th hour of racing by the Naval Special Weapons Flyin' Frogs team from San Diego. This rival team of Navy SEALs finished just 10 minutes back, after 24 hours and 270 miles of grueling off-road racing. Team member Nathan Sibly also broke the record for fastest lap with a 39:36 over the 9-mile course.

Lanzilotta and partner Jeremy Edge hammered out the fastest 11 of the first 12 laps by the time dusk settled on the Georgia International Horse Park. Shortly before midnight, however, the 5 Man Faster Mustache team - with three more sets of fresher legs in reserve - had taken the overall lead. Wakeracing's The Crew, Less Two's tumble from the leaderboard wasn't entirely by accident, however. After 15 laps, an assured win in their category, and with plans to race again the following weekend, the pair took a "virtual" 6 hour lap and got some shut-eye.

Into the crisp, clear moonlit Georgia night, Faster Mustache gained momentum, but had a new force to reckon with. The Naval Special Weapons Flyin' Frogs team poured on the steam under cover of darkness like a nuclear sub stalking its target. Even after Nathan Sibly's record breaking lap time, the Men's Sport category squad continued to post impressively fast lap times of right around 40 minutes as the morning dawned and the race drew closer to a finish. By the end, both teams had to ride a 30th lap to determine the winner, and Faster Mustache prevailed by a mere ten minute's margin.

Another local favorite, Five Person Co-Ed team Priority Fe-Mail's win included the efforts of 12-year old Megan Lilly, who was just 4 months old when 1996 Women's Gold Medalist Paola Pezzo stormed to victory at the same venue.

Not all contenders were local, however. Liz Baumgardt-Kays of Loves Park, IL plans to visit all six races of the Suzuki 24 Hour National Points Series. The Women's Solo runner-up at Conyers has already put over 6,000 miles on her vehicle's odometer driving to and from the first two races in the 2008 Suzuki 24 Hour Series, and she plans to attend the remaining four events. The travel and sacrifice are worth it for the machine shop owner.

"I attended the 2007 series finale at Moab, UT last October and had such a great time! I thought it would be neat to do all the series events this year," she said. Competitors need only race two events plus the series finale at Moab in October to be in contention for overall titles and prizes, but for Baumgardt-Kays it's not about the accolades.

"The [Suzuki Series] races are a great time and a fun atmosphere. For me it's well worth the travel and time to enrich your life this way."

The Suzuki 24 Hour National Point Series now travels to Big Bear, WVa., close to Granny Gear Productions' home office, for Round Three on June 7 & 8. Expect to see the climbers and experts in technical, east coast singletrack come to the fore.

Thereafter the series goes to:

Killington, Vt, July 26/27
Landahl, Mo, September 20/21
Moab, Ut, October 11/12

For more information about the Suzuki 24 Hour National Point Series, please visit www.grannygear.com.