News: Hendershot 5th at Dirt Sweat & Gears

Hendershot gets his ride on

Syndicate veteran Mark Hendershot finished 5th at the Dirt Sweat & Gears 12 hour in Fayetteville, Tennessee. DSG, the second in USA Cycling's Ultra Endurance Series, attracted most of the best ultra-racers in the country. Tinker Juarez and Pua Sawicki took top honors, and DJ Birch won the SS category. Badass Birch also competed in Friday‚s SSUSA stage race, which was capped off by a jousting match between the top SS riders. Crazy man Scott Hodge raced SSUSA on a fixed gear with no brakes.

Friday night thunderstorms meant the start of Saturday's DSG was 10 miles of ankle-deep peanut butter muck. Derailleur hangers and chains snapped left and right. Racers had to stop and clean wheels just to keep rolling. Hendershot finished his first lap laughing, "This is so goofy. I absolutely love it."

Thankfully for his crew, who spent nearly an hour cleaning his bike, the rain stopped. The muck dried and packed down hard, lap times dropped, and the sun shone the rest of the day.

"DSG was a challenging course, lots of short steep climbs, rocks and roots. The VPP full suspension Blur XC kept my old bones together."

DSG was a fun filled event with live music on two stages, trials riders, a guest appearance by Gary Fisher, and a landing by the Vanderbilt University sports med team helicopter. Big props go out to Clay and Grant "the bunny" for hosting DSG.

Mark greatly appreciates the support of his sponsors:

Santa Cruz Bicycles, SRAM, RockShox, Truvativ, Avid, Maxxis, DT Swiss, WTB, Crankbrothers, Lizard Skins, Clif Bar, Troy Lee Designs, Chris King, Lake Shoes, Hammer Nutrition, Zeal Optics, Red Bull, Hydrapak, Lupine Lighting

SSUSA Victors!