12 Hours of Cranky Monkey

By Jay Aument:

So this past weekend, several members of Team Flying Dog traveled to Quantico, Virginia for the 12 hours of Cranky Monkey.  Quantico, you say?  Isn't that where the US Marines train?  It most certainly is!  The marines are nice enough to allow a few hundred cyclists on to the base for a good old fashioned family mountain bike race.

The course is between 9 and 10 miles long.  It consists of lots and lots of ups and downs.  None of the climbs were particularly long, but there were just so darn many of them.  It certainly wasn't my favorite course, but most of my teammates thoroughly enjoyed it.  Speaking of the team, we had a pretty decent turnout with three teams.  The first team was a three person.  Andrea and Mike Lesondak were joined by Team Captain, Herb Wright.  The second team included Diana Juliano, Jean Thompson and myself.  Charles Montour was joined by a local Frederick rider named Sally for a two person team.

Now back to the course…

The race began with a LeMans style running start around part of the pit area.  Diana, Andrea and Charles ran for their respective teams.  They grabbed their bikes and were off for the first lap.  The day started out well, but the temperature and humidity rose pretty quickly.  The course was not terribly technical, but it did include plenty of climbing overall.  There were certainly fun sections such as the tabletop descent.  The race photographer probably got some good shots on that section.  There were four aid stations with ice-cold water which we all took advantage of.

The race ran from 8AM to 8PM, which was long enough.  I know I was dead tired by the end.  Each team ended up with around 10 laps to their credit.  Both Co-ed Tri teams took 8th & 10th places, and our Co-ed Duo team grabbed 10th place as well.  No podiums this time, but I think we will be back for more next year.  That is, if the marines will still let us on base.

As always, much thanks goes out to Flying Dog Brewery, The Bike Doctor of Frederick and all our sponsors.  You all help us get out there and race!