Cackalacky '08

Our 8th Annual Cackalacky Cup wrapped up last weekend and it was a blast! We generally try to have some vintage mountain bike "celebrities" attend but it just didn't work out this year. Capt. Dondo was heading our way with FTW in tow and a couple of bonus buddies as well and Rody, from Groovy Cycle Works, was making a return appearance. The bad news started Thursday afternoon when Dondo called to tell us FTW had a paying engagement and his two traveling buds were bailing out. Facing a 14 hour solo commute, Dondo opted out which left Rody. Rody doubles as a fireman and the fellow who was covering his shift had a death in the family so Rodys trip south was put on hold as well.

That was the sad part. The good news was EL, Don and Noah were still winging their way to NC. These guys are part of the vintage ATB brotherhood and come down to check out the bike collection and get in some great riding. After everyone arrived at the shop on Friday, we headed out for some traditional NC BBQ.

Saturday morning brought the competition portion of the weekend. We use the Itusi Trail, at Lake Norman State Park, for this part of the event. It is a great trail network that follows the contours of Lake Norman. We used the 4 mile Hawk Loop for the Technical Time Trial which featured a handful of benign obstacles. Miss an obstacle, get a time penalty. After that, we rode over to the 6 mile Monbo Loop for a full out time trial. The fastest cumulative time won a Fox Racing Shox and Cane Creek donated a set of disc wheels which were awarded randomly to a participant. We doubled the amount of racers we had last year and had a great time. It was nice to see about 15 kids participate. After the time trials, we took a more leisurely ride around the park. This was followed by pizzas and beers at the shop.

Sunday was a gorgeous day and we met at the shop at 8AM. Everyone piled in the cars and we headed to DuPont State Forest. When we got to the trail head, it was already full of cars. We looked at each other and wondered if they were there to ride with us. We took 13 "locals" and were met by 15 people from the Asheville area. 28 was too big of a group so we quickly broke into the "racer" group and "tourist" group. The racers blew by the scenic overlooks while us tourists took in the sights. Big thanks to David, Mike, Woody, Chuck and Ed (plus others) for showing us around.

The worst part about the weekend is that it only happens once a year!