Well Finally I was back at the trail again for a full day fun in the saddle! While I initially started the weekend out with a minor mechanical where the cassette was locking up the hub, a minor issue that was resolved over the phone that evening with Charles. The next morning I wake up from a dream I was 3hrs late to the start of the race, only to find out its only 5am. After getting registered and enjoying the Breakfast of Champions, Red Baron Breakfast Pizza's it was time to get ready for the race. Then as I load the bike up on the car rack I notice my rear shock sleeve is separated from the bottom part of the shock so nothing is sealing the bottom part of the shock so another panicked call to Charles and after a short discussion about how bad it might be I decided to race it anyway.
The night before the race it rained enough to make the trail kinda tacky since it was extremely dry the day before. Some of the low lying areas where a little slick and apparently one of the bridge crossings was really bad you would have to ask the rider who just about ended up in the culvert. I had a sag point set up about half way through the course about 6 miles in so the first lap was actually a lap and a half about 18miles before I stopped for my first refill. The real fun began on lap 4, just after my stop for a fresh bottle and few enervite gels I head out on the trail and a couple of minutes later it starts down pouring, the trail basically became a creek and I joked to the rider in front of me how mountain biking was a dual outdoor land and water sport all at once. While that lap was definitely the wettest it wasn't the worst. At least on that lap the mud got washed off as you rode, the following lap when the rain stopped we just had fun in the mud and it was slick!
Well I think about the 5th lap is when the rear shock decided it had enough and felt like I was riding a low rider hard tail. After that lap Monte was at the start/finish area where they had hooked up a hose to spray off the bike so he helped me out with cleaning off some of the mud and put as much chain lube on as it could stand. So I head out to complete lap 7 get the light set on and head back out to the trail. Now with all my mechanical fun I had been having this weekend to make it to lap 7 of the race and actually finish 12hrs I am feeling pretty good about it. 3 miles from the end my rear wheel starts locking up on me - not sure what caused it but I cured it with some accelerade from my water bottle and finished the lap. I felt worse for my bike than I did for me I put that rig through a hurting some Charles is going to have to put some work in on that bike to get it back in race shape! I ended up with 7 laps in just under 11hrs which is slower than last years pace but due to conditions so was everyone, so I am fairly happy with the results. Big thanks to my wife and son for hanging out all day in less than stellar conditions as my support crew. My son Austin also provide help to the volunteer running the road crossing by cheering for riders and stopping traffic. Also to Monte for helping me out and motivating me the last two laps, and finally James who provide the post race beer that I am holding in the pic Monte got of me. Congrats to all the guys who raced, Monte, Mark, Duckman, and anyone else I missed and once this weather lets the local trails dry I Will See You on the Trail!
