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Going long: Eddie & Namrita O'Dea Diary 2008
Eddie and Namrita O'Dea are two married racers balancing the demands of professional racing and training for and even the promoting of endurance races. The duo will travel the US national circuit of 24 hour solo events while dropping in on assorted 100 milers and 12 hour races in between. Follow both into and throughout 2008 as they pursue their roles as spouses, team-mates, co-promoters and yes, even co-business owners.
August 9, 2008
Busy as ever
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It's been awhile since we wrote, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! We directed a very successful Burn 24 Hour with a record attendance in May and then traveled to Michigan for the Lumberjack 100. The Lumberjack 100 was a huge disappointment to say the least. I crashed badly two days before the race while doing an easy spin with Danielle Musto.
I wasn't wearing gloves and my hands slipped off the bars while descending the last trail of the day. I thought I fractured my femur. Fortunately I didn't, but it took a trip to the emergency room to figure that out. Either way, I couldn't even make it to the starting line!
The race and the afterparty were still a ton of fun as the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) races always draw a good crowd. Since then I have been finishing up my dietetic internship this summer while Eddie has been very busy with the Wobble Naught fittings in his new location at AVX Bikes in Atlanta.
More recently we traveled back to Michigan to visit my parents, then headed over to New York to visit Eddie's parents. We even had a chance to ride over to Niagara Falls.
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We just returned from racing the 24 hour Solo US National Championship Race at 24-9 in Wisconsin. We were both hoping for a top five finish. Eddie has placed fourth the last two years, and I was eighth last year due to technical difficulties with my lights. Alas, the stars were not aligned for either of us this year and we were both plagued with other difficulties.
We all have bad days, but the day of the National Championship race is not the day you want to have it! The racing has not been exactly what we had hoped for this summer, but fortunately there is a lot more of it to come this season. Our fitness is right where it needs to be as both of us are feeling stronger than ever right now; however, that also made the bad race an even more bitter pill to swallow.
The Fool's Gold 100 & 50 mountain bike races and festival are shaping up nicely! The 50 mile race will have a huge field, with the 100 mile race being slightly smaller, but only in numbers, not in names. We have a commitment from recently crowned marathon and short track National Champion Jeremiah Bishop, who is coming down to race for the US$1,000 overall prize. It won't be an easy win as his team-mates Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough are also gunning for it along with Tinker Juarez and Georgia native Thomas Turner.
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The women's field is disappointingly small; currently we only have Trek's Cheryl Sorenson committed. We'll see if Trish Stevenson, last year's race winner, shows up to challenge Cheryl and to defend her title as winner of the Fool's Gold 100.
The festival side of the weekend will be a blast with two bands scheduled, free local beers, bike demos from Pivot Cycles and Vassago Cycles, organized rides, a Bike29.com gathering of 29" wheels and their riders, games, and more. We have partnered with IMBA-SORBA for the festival and are making a donation to a land access fund that will go towards improving the awesome trails in the Bull Mountain Area, the site of IMBA's first epic ride.
There is no rest for the weary, though! As soon as FG100 is over, we head to Napa for the Singlespeed World Championship Race, which should be a blast.
There is only one more 24 hour race left for us, the 24 hours of Moab. Both Eddie and I had planned to race for the win at 24 hours of Landahl to gather more points in the Granny Gear National Points Series before Moab, but Granny Gear recently cancelled the Lanhdahl race leaving us in sort of a bind. The current points situation places extra importance on the 24 Hours of Moab race for which we are now diligently preparing.
Stay tuned for more!
Namrita O'Dea
www.eddieodea.com
www.namrita.blogspot.com
See more Cyclingnews' coverage from the 24 hour US National Championship
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Namrita O'Dea
- Eddie O'Dea enjoying the view before the storm in Ontario.
- Eddie O'Dea in Ontario
Images by M. Fowler
- Eddie O'Dea racing at the 24 hours of Nine Mile
- Namrita O'Dea finishes a lap at the 24 hours of Nine Mile.
- Namrita O'Dea and Danielle Musto finish up race preparations.
- The LeMans start at the 24 hours of Nine Mile.
- And they're off...
- Deejay_Birtch and Namrita O'Dea discuss important matters such as bikes and beer.
