Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/935202
28 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com The Six-Hour Team Race at Highland Park By Ciaran Wilcox There is no denying that a key benefit of social media is the ability to share information which may not otherwise come to your attention. While scrolling my Facebook feed, I noticed someone had posted a flyer advertising a six- hour team race to be held at Highland Park Off Road Resort in Cedartown, Georgia on Decem- ber 31, 2017. The race would be structured with teams of either two or three riders or ironmen who would race from green flag drop at 9 a.m. until the checkered flag flew around 3 p.m. Without looking at many details beyond that, my husband Chip and Dariush Donyavi (his teammate for the Northeast 24-Hour Race) were intrigued by the adventure of a new race in an unfamiliar area of the country. With the New Year holiday extending the weekend, it was a done deal. They would ride in an Intermediate Duo class under the name of Team FAHQdue' and were prepared for whatever would await them. With 16 hours of driving ahead, Chip and Dari- ush left Connecticut at around 11 a.m. on Friday prior to the race and drove through the Blue Ridge Mountains into Tennessee where they stopped for some shut eye late in the evening. When they woke, they had a few hours to go before arriving at the facility. After traveling on highways for hundreds of miles, the GPS routed them onto local roads where they drove through areas which grew more rural with each pass- ing mile. The paved roadway became a rough pot-holed, rocky dirt road that was canopied by hanging trees after recent ice storms in the area. Seemingly out of nowhere they arrived at the unassuming entrance around mid-day on Satur- day and parked and entered the main lodge to sign in. Each person they interacted with was true to