Bryson City, NC, 17th, 2008 - Danielle Musto traveled south this past weekend and recorded her first ultra-endurance win for 2008 at the 12 Hours of Tsali. Her words tell the story best:

This past weekend I traveled down to Bryson City, North Carolina to compete in the 12 hours of Tsali. The race promoter does a super job of organizing the event and the 10 mile course is a nice mix of hills and winding single track.

Bryson City saw rain showers in the days leading up to the race, resulting in sloppy conditions in the first few laps.  Following a short Le Mans start I worked for the first half of my race to ride a consistent pace.  As the race progressed I switched between my Titus Racer X and Titus Exogrid Hardtail, both equipped with Kenda Karma UST tires, which handled the mud very well.  My new Hayes Stroker brakes and Manitou fork were also a huge help on Tsali's slippery and rough cut singletrack. 

As the race progressed the sun began to shine and the trail dried out. I kept my laps times right at 60 minutes with rolling pit stops to grab fresh hydration packs filled with Power Bar Endurance formula.  I had lapped the entire women's field by the halfway point in the race, and continued to move up in the solo men's field.  

Just before dark I pitted to mount my lights. My pit crew informed me that I had moved into 6 place overall against the solo men.  For the next few laps I kept my focus on maintaining a steady pace.  I was able to pick off a couple more of the solo men.  I finished with 11 total laps in first place in the Solo Womens' division and fourth place overall.  Only 3 solo men bettered my performance.

Until the next race-
Danielle Musto
Team Kenda Titus Hayes

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