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The 50 Miles of Hamilton Creek and Fat Tire Festival weekend was a ton of fun. It was hot, but the shade trees at the Ned Shelton trailhead and the Harpeth Bicycles pop-up tents gave everyone a cool place to hang out.
Pinnacle tests the brave while the less brave stand and spectate
Fat Tire Festival
Saturday’s Fat Tire Festivities included a kid’s race, tire slide race, and hill climb and downhill race on the rocky face of the Pinnacle Climb. Rain from the day before gave the rocks and roots a slippery sheen, but several participants were able to clean the roughly 100 yard long rocky incline.
Brentwood Market and Deli brought some of the best pulled pork sandwiches we’d ever had and ran out almost immediately (mountain bikers and little mountain bikers are hungry folk).
50 Miles of Hamilton Creek
Sunday the racers lined up early in burlap sacks for the slightly modified Le Mans start to the 50 Mile race.
Nothing like a hot burlap sack to start a summer day.
The first lap was still slick with humidity and racers struggled to maintain traction on several technical sections. As the day wore on temperatures climbed and the trail dried out, making faster lap times possible but a lot less comfortable. Several strong local endurance racers bailed out after only 2 or 3 out of 4 laps. Those lucky enough to be sitting in the shade of the pit area during lunch were treated to another round of Brentwood Market barbecue.
By mid afternoon the teams and solo racers started to straggle back into the pit and cool down and socialize. The awards ceremony included prizes from Oakley, North Face, Chamois Butt’r, the ever-present Yazoo Brewing Company, and many other great companies.
Still, everyone’s eyes were on the Ellsworth Glimpse that had been showcased since the event began, and all were wondering who it would go to. Instead of giving a race-ready trail bike to a raffle winner, or awarding it to someone who already had a great racing machine of their own, Harpeth Bicycles and SORBA decided early on that we would pick someone deserving of a new bike from the race participants. There were a few early standouts, but as the day progressed it became clear that we had a definite winner.
Josh Butler’s bike made squeaking sounds as he navigated it expertly over the rocky terrain of Hamilton Creek. It was a sound most only heard once – as he passed them. After the race we feared that he had bailed out early, because no one could find him. Turns out he had raced his aging hardtail mountain bike 50 miles, then ridden to the other side of the Hamilton Creek park area to cool down with a dip in Percy Priest Lake! His efforts during the race were enough to net him a solid win in the Solo Men’s Amateur class. After awarding him his case of Yazoo and first place prizes, we called him back up to receive his new bike. The look on his face was an amazing combination of shock, excitement, and disbelief.
The highlight of the weekend: Jonathan Woody shakes Josh Butler's hand after awarding him with his new Ellsworth Glimpse mountain bike.
What makes this even better is that Josh only recently moved to Nashville from a small town in East Tennessee, hoping to go to Belmont. He didn’t know anyone else at the race and signed up at the last minute having never ridden the Hamilton Creek trails. No one in his class could keep up with him on his old bike. Imagine how fast he’ll be now. Congratulations Josh!
More photos from the weekend posted on our team facebook page.
