The house was full again of some of our close cycling companions and some Australian guy?? Where did he come from? Either way it made for a fun weekend of racing bikes, hanging out, and eating well! Good thing we were riding bikes a lot cause we went through a lot of food!!
So the race recap. Lots of podium time for Team 212/Specialized. We started things out on Saturday with Sarah racing the Cat 2 race and I am sorry but I cannot remember how she did? I believe she won her age group and was 3rd overall, but don't quote me on that. We then moved into the Cat 1 race. The women made the men look bad in this event with Lisa 1st overall, Di 2nd overall and Michelle 10th overall!! Not to mention Michelle winning her age group! Ryan ended up 5th overall in the Cat 1 race out like 100 competitors!! Sweet. Then it was onto the PRO Men. Darrin rocked the day with a 16th overall, while myself I will talk about later, and Scott in 56th.
Short Track. Sarah scored the first win of the day in Womens Cat 2 by taking the overall on her antique Klein! Lisa then followed with a win of her own with Michelle coming through for an awesome 7th Overall!! Ryan came in wtih a 7th overall in shrot track as well!! Then Darrin backed up his XC finish with another 16th place in STXC, Myself later, and Scott 41st.
It was then up the hill for Super D. I am still a bit confused on where everyone finished on this cause I was completly bonked by the time everyone got down the hill. I must say though it was the biggest turnout for Super D that I have ever seen!! Either way the big story here is Darrin took his first PRO win with the win in Super D! I somehow ended up on the last podium spot after riding down the hill and not pedaling much??? Oh well it bought ice cream!
Next up is the Firecracker 50 in Breck! I cannot wait!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Going cross eyed
Thats what it will be like this weekend. Michelle and I went down to the site of this weekends showdown in Wisco. For what we could figure out the trail is going to set up for a good, HARD, battle. Maybe not against each other as much as 7 laps on the hill. The course is about 4 miles long and from what we could tell you snake all over the hill with several short climbs. The reason I say from what we could tell is there are trails cut all over the place down there! Downhill, Cat2/3 loop, Cat1 loop, Pro loop, Super D, STXC so at times it became hard to follow the exact route. Either way the legs will be screaming at the end and you will be testing your fitness. It is not quite my style of a course with the punchy climbs, I prefer long drawn out climbs(Which we do not have in the midwest), but the course is going to be a blast. Come out and watch or at least represent the midwest as we bring back top ranked racers for a WORS race!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Smiles ear to ear!
What an awesome race course!! This past weekend the crew containing Michelle, TSP, Di, Jon, and Lisa, went to the UP, eh! The chaindrive was the race and I must say the course was a blast!! Tons of singletrack that kept you on your toes the entire time. The race start was a nice roll out since there was a head wind on the way out and Brian, Mike, and I were all just busy chit chatting to keep an eye on each other. After the 3 mile lead out, I decided I didn't like my position going into the KOM before the singletrack so I went around everyone on the side of the road and hammered in to the hill. My mistake was I set up to lel Mike, and Brian to get on only to get destroyed up the hill! Ooops!! Eitherway I got back on the lead group containing Brian, Mike, and Chad and we flowed through the singletrack smiling ear to ear! Unfortunately I woke up with a fever and sore throat so I was struggling with a really high HR and just not feeling the best. I was still riding OK and it did not change the outcome of the race at all. My biggest mistake came about 15 miles into the race when I went to move my water bottle from my jersey pocket into my bottle cage. I fell off the group about 10 seconds, but did not panic. I ended up chasing and took a risk in one corener and went over the bars. I bounced right back up but could not get my chain out of between the frame and small ring. Either way once I got back going all I heard from every check point was 1 minute. I was not closing and they were not getting further away. Kind of sucked cause i rode the rest of the race by myself. In the end I finished 4th overall. I guess Brian and Mike sprinted it out for the win with Brian taking it cause he had more knobs on his front tire, guess it was that close!! Todd came in 7th overall so two of us in the top 10!
For the women, Di came in for 2nd overall and Michelle rounded off the last podium spot for 3rd. Lisa also took here age group win in her 2nd MTB race ever in the 16 mile race! Nice work girls!!
We then finished off the weekend with some riding of the Tech trails were I learned how to MTB! Cannot believe how sweet those trails are. They are even well marked. Whoever is doing the work up there definetely has it figured out and I recommend a trip up there to ride!!!
Speaking of trips, everyone in the midwest had better represent this weekend at the Subaru Cup!! We have a PROXct race coming to town and after all the grumblings I heard post Alpine Valley not coming back I expect to see you there! So get out and race the big dogs coming to town. It is not often that you get the oppurtunity and they are fast!! Not to mention the course is one of the better WORS courses. I will give more info on the course later in the week, I think Michelle and I are going to go scope it out on Tuesday.
For the women, Di came in for 2nd overall and Michelle rounded off the last podium spot for 3rd. Lisa also took here age group win in her 2nd MTB race ever in the 16 mile race! Nice work girls!!
We then finished off the weekend with some riding of the Tech trails were I learned how to MTB! Cannot believe how sweet those trails are. They are even well marked. Whoever is doing the work up there definetely has it figured out and I recommend a trip up there to ride!!!
Speaking of trips, everyone in the midwest had better represent this weekend at the Subaru Cup!! We have a PROXct race coming to town and after all the grumblings I heard post Alpine Valley not coming back I expect to see you there! So get out and race the big dogs coming to town. It is not often that you get the oppurtunity and they are fast!! Not to mention the course is one of the better WORS courses. I will give more info on the course later in the week, I think Michelle and I are going to go scope it out on Tuesday.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Heads been spinning, and the wheels too.
At least they were 2 weeks ago at the Mohican Mudfest. We arrived down there to a tornado warning and these ice chunks falling from the sky leaving nice little imprints into my 6 month old truck. Freak'n sweet! Guess that is what I get for taking Mother Nature off my Chistmas Card list. Don't tell her, but I don't send out Christmas Cards anyways! So the crappy weather continued and all in all, 2 tornado warnings, 4 inches of rain, hail, and with all that flood warnings were published on Saturday afternoon as well as Scott's, Mark's, and my DNF. Not to mention the other 200 and some racers that did the same! What a mess.
The same weekend some of us were @ Mohican, Darrin was busy up at the 3hr WEMS race in GB where he came out with the win. Also the same weekend Michelle and Sarah represented 212/Specialized on Tarmac at the Wisconsin State Road Championships. They did very good and after all was said and done Michelle ended up taking 3rd for a nice podium, check out how close she was to 2nd:
pic stolen from Jay!
Sarah did well too, finishing I think3rd overall but had a one day license so guess you don't count in road racing if you only race every once in a while!
This past weekend was the Kewaskum WORS race. The team did well with our nightly feed being moved to Darrin and Lynn's since all of us were down in the Milwaukee area for various things. It worked out well cause we all had food babies by the time 7PM rolled around!! Yum, I love to eat. Michelle and I also decided that it would be a good idea to get some R&R in this weekend and decided to get a hotel in DT Milwaukee. We ended up crashing at Hotel Metro and really enjoyed ourselves. They had a bar on the top of the building and could not pass it up even though we were racing the next day. The problem was that we were so cozy that when it came time to start thinking about racing, that was the furthest thing from my mind so we ended up going over to Darrin and Lynn's again to take in everyone elses pre race jitters to try and get the motivation up. Well it never came! Etiher way the race went well, even though I blew getting into my pedal at the start and was sitting in something like 20th hitting the 1st climb. I kept it moving and raced my own race hoping people would blow, no luck with the race time being so short and came in for 6th place. Really enjoyed it though cause I rode around with Ryan all day and was even treated to the girls new 212 cheer!
I must admit, when I heard Ryan clapping back there I had to give a little dig, but it was all in fun. So for the day Darrin was 3rd, Me 6th, and Ryan 7th.
Now onto the ladies. Lisa rode well and battled it out with Abby all day only to lose by 5 seconds once the dust settled. Not sure how everything went down but On the first lap Ryan and I saw Lisa crest the top of the hill with a small gap so she must of decided to go from the gun. Michelle struggled a bit and was not real happy with her placing, but I am super excited to see her back racing and how much improving she has done so far this year. If she keeps going I might have to stop racing and support her!
This weekend Michelle and I are headed up to do the Chaindrive. I have never done this race, but went to school up there and know how much fun the trails are. Scott and Mark will be headed over to the Lumberjack 100 and the rest of the team I believe is laying low to get ready for the ProXCT race to hit Wisco the following weekend. Cannot wait! If you are on the fence on weather to do this event, you better book your travel and not miss it!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Where's the love?
Next up is the Mohican 100. It should be fun with a lot of climbing and sounds like good singletrack for parts of the course. From what I am hearing from Scott it might not be exactly what I would prefer with a bunch of short steep climbs, but either way it is climbing and I like that! I also have a bit more motivation after taking 2nd at Cohutta and not getting any love from cyclingnews in their pre race press release! Thanks!
Monday, May 31, 2010
WORS #3
Really missing the creativity this morning as the cloud has settled into my head! Post race, gotta love it. Good thing it is so much fun to ride our bikes to make up for it! Yesterday did not disappoint again. How crazy to end up in a sprint finish again! That is not good when you weigh in at 140 pounds and you are going up against someone who has seen about every situation in the book over the years of racing. Either way, I would take that any day over someone just riding away, thats no fun! So the race started out interesting. Darrin went to the front and with me going down in the first corners during preride, I was much more timid taking the turns and Darrin ended up with a bit of a gap, so I just set on the front and let him go. Nathan finally recognized what was going on and came around me and started pulling. I set on him through the first section of single track till he took a bad line and flatted. I then took over and felt like I was on the front almost the entire race. I just controlled the pace and started putting in small digs to test the waters. I did put in a hard attack on the 3rd lap when I turned around and noticed that I got a gap through a section of singletrack. I thought I almost had it then burped a tire in section #12. Suck. I rode it low fr the rest of the lap and the start of the 4th before stopping to put air in it. I ended up back on and Brian and I started fighting it out in some of the singletrack, sorry Brian for the wide elbows but I was cramping a bit and wanted to control the pace. I then stayed on the front to keep the pace high enough just to keep Brian and Mark'O from wanting to attack and leaving the sprint to Darrin. When we came out of the singletrack I attacked to try and soften Brian's legs and hopefully help Darrin out. Also to see if I could get away? Then when we rounded the last corner I went wide to give Darrin the best line and rolled in for 4th while one of the craziest sprints I have seen unfolded in front of me. When all the dust settled, Brian took the win, with Darrin 2nd, Mark'O 3rd, and myslef 4th.
For the rest of the team, most were hung up in the wrong turn but still had good races. Ryan came in for 7th overall, Scott 20th overall, and Todd 19th. On the girls side, Lisa came in 5th and Michelle for 7th. I think I remember Mark telling me he rolled in for 6th in his age for the comp class. Good Racing to everyone!! I twas loads of fun!
Next up? Scott, Mark, and I are headed to the Mohican 100. Michelle and Sarah are going down to the Road Race State Championships, and the last I heard the rest of the team is going to take a little break.
Before this weekend though, Michelle and I are about to chamois up for a commute from Amherst down to the Dells to her parents house so that we can hang out on the boat and eat bad food! Sweet! Happy Memorial Day!!
For the rest of the team, most were hung up in the wrong turn but still had good races. Ryan came in for 7th overall, Scott 20th overall, and Todd 19th. On the girls side, Lisa came in 5th and Michelle for 7th. I think I remember Mark telling me he rolled in for 6th in his age for the comp class. Good Racing to everyone!! I twas loads of fun!
Next up? Scott, Mark, and I are headed to the Mohican 100. Michelle and Sarah are going down to the Road Race State Championships, and the last I heard the rest of the team is going to take a little break.
Before this weekend though, Michelle and I are about to chamois up for a commute from Amherst down to the Dells to her parents house so that we can hang out on the boat and eat bad food! Sweet! Happy Memorial Day!!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Animal run ins.....
So mother nature has it figured out that the weather usually does not stop me from riding bikes so now she is up to some other tricks. This weekend on the trip home from Rhinelander she decidied to hurl a 4 legged brown animal in front of my car! Stupid deer. I never even saw it and hit it with the cruise still set at 70 mph. Luckily we just caught the front drivers clip of the car, spun it around into the door, and after it did over $4000 of damage sent it flying into the ditch!! I did take some fur for a souvenir.
My next run in was yesterday. I had a recovery ride so I decided to ride into work. I was on a downhill section and doing maybe 25mph or so and a bee flew right into my face and decided to lodge itself into my left nostril! I frantically tried to get rid of it but not before it released all of its make me swell like a balloon juices into my upper lip. The things is still al swelled up and uncomfortable! I usually never have a problem with bee stings either, at most I might get a bump that looks like a mosquito bite, but not this time!
So now I am hesitant to see what else she has in store for me! I still have my bear whistle from doing BC Bike Race, maybe I should start carrying it along??
On another fun note, I have been riding my new road bike! This is the first new road bike in 6 years and I am super excited. This is the only pic I have so just a teaser for now, but the bike is awesome!
I will work on getting more pics and post them. The thing is super fast and looks sweet.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
#2 in the books....
What a fun weekend!! I think the Rhinelander course is the best course WORS has to offer and I always have fun racing/riding here. The results:
Lisa 2nd overall
Michelle 8th overall/1st in age
Me 4th overall
Darrin 5th overall
Ryan 7th overall
Scott 27th overall
Mark 61st overall/10th age
For the mens race: The start was pretty chill with myself needing to take a couple risks to get to the leaders due to my poor race at Iola, but settled into 7th as we entered into the singletrack. The first lap I think Darrin and Tristan traded pulls a couple times before Darrin decided to put a little dig in on one of the doubletrack sections on the first lap. Once the group brought him back I then tested the waters a bit just to see how everyone was riding. I think this gave Darrin the confidence to attack the entire group on the road section past the start finish shoot. Ouch!! I knew this was going to hurt cause I would need to cover any counter attack and sure enough it was Wicks then said I am done playing games and I am checking out!! I tried to go, but could not hang on!! After blowing myself apart I calmed back down and waited for Tristan and Brian to come up to me. Tristan then did a majority of the pace making and seemed to be more comfortable at the front. Finally on the last lap I tried to go in the back singletrack section but both Brian and Tristan were glued to me! We came out the other side and onto the double track with me pulling them to the line before they both attacked. I did what I could to go with both legs cramped up. What a fun day!! Darrin settle din with Mike Andersen for the 2nd lap after blowing the race apart and ended up rolling in for 5th. Ryan also had another great race and came in for 7th.
Nest up for a majority of the team is WORS #3, except for Scott who will be at the inaugural Chequamegon 100.
Lisa 2nd overall
Michelle 8th overall/1st in age
Me 4th overall
Darrin 5th overall
Ryan 7th overall
Scott 27th overall
Mark 61st overall/10th age
For the mens race: The start was pretty chill with myself needing to take a couple risks to get to the leaders due to my poor race at Iola, but settled into 7th as we entered into the singletrack. The first lap I think Darrin and Tristan traded pulls a couple times before Darrin decided to put a little dig in on one of the doubletrack sections on the first lap. Once the group brought him back I then tested the waters a bit just to see how everyone was riding. I think this gave Darrin the confidence to attack the entire group on the road section past the start finish shoot. Ouch!! I knew this was going to hurt cause I would need to cover any counter attack and sure enough it was Wicks then said I am done playing games and I am checking out!! I tried to go, but could not hang on!! After blowing myself apart I calmed back down and waited for Tristan and Brian to come up to me. Tristan then did a majority of the pace making and seemed to be more comfortable at the front. Finally on the last lap I tried to go in the back singletrack section but both Brian and Tristan were glued to me! We came out the other side and onto the double track with me pulling them to the line before they both attacked. I did what I could to go with both legs cramped up. What a fun day!! Darrin settle din with Mike Andersen for the 2nd lap after blowing the race apart and ended up rolling in for 5th. Ryan also had another great race and came in for 7th.
Nest up for a majority of the team is WORS #3, except for Scott who will be at the inaugural Chequamegon 100.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Waterlogged
Please show me some sunshine, cause after riding for 3 days in the rain I need to dry out!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Enough Already Mother Nature!
Rhinelander this past weekend, first race in the snow, EVER! I have been doing this for 13 years and it happened in May!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Iola Update
Sorry I am running a bit behind. Was really not feeling the best and pretty much spent my entire Monday in a fog cloud.
So The WORS start has come and gone. All the hype and wonder of who has done the work is set and the with the dust now gone the 212/Specialized Team occupied some good podium positions. I think the girls took this round with 3 top 10s!! Lisa in 2nd overall, Di in 3rd overall, and Michelle 10th overall! Freak'n sweet!
The guys did not dissapoint either with Darrin able to recover from the ludicrous speed start and roll through in 3rd overall. Ryan, after not getting the call up that he earned last year, had to do ludicrous speed plus one gear to get back to the front of the race and ended the day making the elite 8! One of the old guys on the Team, TSP, also known as Todd McFadden came through in 14th. Scott rolled through in 25th spot and I came through in 41st.
Nice start to the season and it was awesome to see everyone again!!
So The WORS start has come and gone. All the hype and wonder of who has done the work is set and the with the dust now gone the 212/Specialized Team occupied some good podium positions. I think the girls took this round with 3 top 10s!! Lisa in 2nd overall, Di in 3rd overall, and Michelle 10th overall! Freak'n sweet!
The guys did not dissapoint either with Darrin able to recover from the ludicrous speed start and roll through in 3rd overall. Ryan, after not getting the call up that he earned last year, had to do ludicrous speed plus one gear to get back to the front of the race and ended the day making the elite 8! One of the old guys on the Team, TSP, also known as Todd McFadden came through in 14th. Scott rolled through in 25th spot and I came through in 41st.
Nice start to the season and it was awesome to see everyone again!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Was this a hint!
So coach has me nicknamed "Skinny" and at work they call me "Skinnyman" Then to add to that I finish the NUE race this past weekend and look what they give me:
Needless to say, they are probably right cause I have not been very far from a dinner plate since I have finished!! Ah, the joy of recovery!! I have yet to figure it out yet, do I like to ride my bike or is it the post ride eating that I enjoy!!
On another note, I am way excited for the release of this! Nothing like a little motivation to keep you riding hard!
See everyone this weekend at Iola! Can't believe it is May!
Needless to say, they are probably right cause I have not been very far from a dinner plate since I have finished!! Ah, the joy of recovery!! I have yet to figure it out yet, do I like to ride my bike or is it the post ride eating that I enjoy!!
On another note, I am way excited for the release of this! Nothing like a little motivation to keep you riding hard!
See everyone this weekend at Iola! Can't believe it is May!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Cohutta 100
What can I say, what a weekend! The whole team has stepped it up over the winter and I am excited to see how the rest of the season goes! We have such a great team and we all feed off from each others successes! It is awesome to be able to help such a great group of talented and down to earth individuals.
So I am sure everyone has seen all the results by now and the fact that we took three different podium spots at a national event. If not here is someone else's perspective:
http://www.mtbracenews.com/view_article.jsp?id=18
So my perspective now! I must start with all the driving! Wow it is a long way down there, and back! I think it was a total of over 30 hrs in the car for the weekend. Now that is way outside Mike's rule of the travel to the race cannot be longer than the time in the saddle!
So race morning. I barely slept going into it cause the rain started at about 2 am that morning and never stopped. The whole night was spent thinking about what tires to run, should I change out my rotors, blah, blah, blah. So when we finally got up at 4am, ate, then headed to the race course, the rain was still coming down but at a little lighter rate and I was tired! With the rain I was not very interested in any type of warm up and just rolled to the line and called that my warm up, hell I have 100 miles to warm up! So I ended up lining up 2nd row and a bunch of riders though it was a good idea to line up to the right of everyone in the parking lot thinking that when they said go it would funnel together?? Not sure the thinking on that but after only one dab during the start I was off and settled in behind Simonson in about 5th spot. At the top of the first road hill he gave it a good go and I stayed glued to his wheel! I think he took Schalk by surprise when he came by him on the downhill leading into the singletrack, Schalk countered and ended up into the singletrack first with Simonson, myself, Christian, Koerber, and Josh in tow. The singletrack was a blast and was actually in better shape after the rain. We flowed well and just kept the momentum going not really drilling it too hard. We did surprise some of the local critters when all the riders went flying past a turtle that decided to hide in his shell in the middle of the trail! I hope he made it!! Just as we were about to come out the other side of the singletrack at the Ocoee White Water Center, Jeff hit a root wrong and went down. I tried to miss it, but with the speed I ended up hitting a root wrong and went down right next to him. I bounced right back up and got onto the group, but Jeff was off the back a bit, so at this time, game on!! Simonson and Tosatado went to the front and kept the pace high! Jeff eventually bridged back up and went right to the front as to punish us for not waiting! So by the time we got out of all the singeltrack the break was set. We ended up loosing Koerber up one of the hills and 5 of us settled in as Tostado kept the pace high at the front of the group. Josh and I ended up stopping at aid #2 to fill water bottles, which we had to do ourselves since we surprised the helpers by coming through so fast. Once mounted back on the bike I went past Josh and Christian toward to the top of the climb and ended up riding solo for the next 65 miles! Not fun, I had no clue how far I was behind or how far in front I was. So I just kept my head down, settled into a pace I could maintain, and went. At this time Simonson and Schalk were off the front together so I knew that I would probably not catch them but kept moving thinking something might happen. At about mile 50 I saw Simonson standing on the side of the course with a flat, suck!! He motioned for me to slow and asked if I had a tube and CO2. I dropped my CO2, but when I went to grab a tube, I noticed I never put one on my bike! Oops, must of missed that with thinking bout the crappy weather that morning!! So now I was in 2nd and just kept my pace. I would attack all the hills cause I knew I could make my best time there and just settled into my best tempo on the flats. At about mile 70, the skies decided to open and just poured on us! A couple too close for comfort lightning strikes as well. Either way I was hoping that they would just send us down the mountain at aid station 6. I asked at both station 5 and station 6 and the answer was the same, enjoy the singletrack in monsoon conditions.
By the time I hit this point I had been riding in the heavy rain for almost 2 hrs and was getting cold. I picked the pace up to stay warm and headed out for the remainder of my epic ride. The singletrack was made more technical with the rivers flowing down it. I kept it smooth and attacked the hills and came out the other side still in 2nd place and no brakes left on the bike. From here it was just 2 miles on a paved trail, over the bridge, and cross the line, for my first ever pro podium!! Sweet!
From the finish line, I headed directly to the river to wash off. I had mud everywhere!
So I am sure everyone has seen all the results by now and the fact that we took three different podium spots at a national event. If not here is someone else's perspective:
http://www.mtbracenews.com/view_article.jsp?id=18
So my perspective now! I must start with all the driving! Wow it is a long way down there, and back! I think it was a total of over 30 hrs in the car for the weekend. Now that is way outside Mike's rule of the travel to the race cannot be longer than the time in the saddle!
So race morning. I barely slept going into it cause the rain started at about 2 am that morning and never stopped. The whole night was spent thinking about what tires to run, should I change out my rotors, blah, blah, blah. So when we finally got up at 4am, ate, then headed to the race course, the rain was still coming down but at a little lighter rate and I was tired! With the rain I was not very interested in any type of warm up and just rolled to the line and called that my warm up, hell I have 100 miles to warm up! So I ended up lining up 2nd row and a bunch of riders though it was a good idea to line up to the right of everyone in the parking lot thinking that when they said go it would funnel together?? Not sure the thinking on that but after only one dab during the start I was off and settled in behind Simonson in about 5th spot. At the top of the first road hill he gave it a good go and I stayed glued to his wheel! I think he took Schalk by surprise when he came by him on the downhill leading into the singletrack, Schalk countered and ended up into the singletrack first with Simonson, myself, Christian, Koerber, and Josh in tow. The singletrack was a blast and was actually in better shape after the rain. We flowed well and just kept the momentum going not really drilling it too hard. We did surprise some of the local critters when all the riders went flying past a turtle that decided to hide in his shell in the middle of the trail! I hope he made it!! Just as we were about to come out the other side of the singletrack at the Ocoee White Water Center, Jeff hit a root wrong and went down. I tried to miss it, but with the speed I ended up hitting a root wrong and went down right next to him. I bounced right back up and got onto the group, but Jeff was off the back a bit, so at this time, game on!! Simonson and Tosatado went to the front and kept the pace high! Jeff eventually bridged back up and went right to the front as to punish us for not waiting! So by the time we got out of all the singeltrack the break was set. We ended up loosing Koerber up one of the hills and 5 of us settled in as Tostado kept the pace high at the front of the group. Josh and I ended up stopping at aid #2 to fill water bottles, which we had to do ourselves since we surprised the helpers by coming through so fast. Once mounted back on the bike I went past Josh and Christian toward to the top of the climb and ended up riding solo for the next 65 miles! Not fun, I had no clue how far I was behind or how far in front I was. So I just kept my head down, settled into a pace I could maintain, and went. At this time Simonson and Schalk were off the front together so I knew that I would probably not catch them but kept moving thinking something might happen. At about mile 50 I saw Simonson standing on the side of the course with a flat, suck!! He motioned for me to slow and asked if I had a tube and CO2. I dropped my CO2, but when I went to grab a tube, I noticed I never put one on my bike! Oops, must of missed that with thinking bout the crappy weather that morning!! So now I was in 2nd and just kept my pace. I would attack all the hills cause I knew I could make my best time there and just settled into my best tempo on the flats. At about mile 70, the skies decided to open and just poured on us! A couple too close for comfort lightning strikes as well. Either way I was hoping that they would just send us down the mountain at aid station 6. I asked at both station 5 and station 6 and the answer was the same, enjoy the singletrack in monsoon conditions.
By the time I hit this point I had been riding in the heavy rain for almost 2 hrs and was getting cold. I picked the pace up to stay warm and headed out for the remainder of my epic ride. The singletrack was made more technical with the rivers flowing down it. I kept it smooth and attacked the hills and came out the other side still in 2nd place and no brakes left on the bike. From here it was just 2 miles on a paved trail, over the bridge, and cross the line, for my first ever pro podium!! Sweet!
From the finish line, I headed directly to the river to wash off. I had mud everywhere!
Once in I also learned how well everyone else did! Here are the podium shots!
I must say thanks to all the sponsors. We made it 460 miles as a team and not a single mechanical!!
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