Awesome! Hard! Icy! Whiskey, bacon and egg nog filled! Need I say more. 132 riders actually signed up and many more simply headed out for the ride. We filled the "Mound" parking lot with cross bikes, mountain bikes and even a few tandems. Did I mention Team Seagal rocks? Recap video here.
The course, which we partially marked Friday, had to be altered dramatically this morning. It ended up being shorter eliminating the bastard run up and down hill after, as well as the long climb up from the Katy. Some of the gravel, service paths and grass had to go also. No complaints, what-so-ever. It was a blast as there were factors that hadn't even crossed my mind until this morning. The ice in Bush was CRAZY! I saw numerous wipe outs. All of the ribbons we hung had been removed and the snow that fell Friday night covered up some of the arrows painted on the ground. A quick overview from Gino before the start was a life saver and the other 3 guys I was with would have been lost without some guidance.
We started out in front as did the other 20ish people that dressed up for the event. Not the 5 minute lead they got last year, but still cool. Jeremy set the pace and soon Jay Strothman pulled up and took over. Even the Hamburg was icy and I almost went down. As we turned right down into lost valley, I was in about 10th place. By the time we got to the top of the next climb I was riding in 2nd behind Jay. Stayed this way until Nico came bouncing by on his fixie. We had a pretty good group again after collecting our first zip tie. Approaching the next big downhill I jumped around Jay and Nico so I could bomb it. Soon we crossed hwy 94 and made our way through the bottom of the quarry and back out to the Hamburg. This is where the top 10ish picked up our "packages" that we had to ride with all the way back to the mound. My box was about 1/4 the size of last years, cool with me! Came through the drop off point and I was in the front of our group. A Hub rider, Devin Clark was with us now-man is he strong. We made our way over to Bush and started to encounter the real ice. We all figured it out pretty quick after we all took a turn sliding sideways, but we all kept it upright.
I knew that the "lake 12" section was still in the course and we were soon there. Punchor and the Professor, Dan above with the devious look on his face, were frying up huge pieces of bacon and had the whiskey shots all ready for us. I ate half the bacon and still had the other half in my mouth 10 minutes later. We were told to run the entire lake levy which nearly made me blow. Devin and Jay looked like Winnie the Poo, bouncing along holding his big red balloon, nearly floating. After we got back on our bikes we were joined by a Big Shark rider, Trent Donat. I quickly felt like these other 3 riders were going to have their way with me and I would get spat out and forgotten about. We took a moderate pace from here as I wasn't sure which way we were going. We headed into the "bike trail", (old roads that are blocked to trucks) and I led the way. We came to a fallen tree and I jumped off, over and was back on, the other three came blazing by me like they didn't even have to get off, freaked me out! We stayed together and soon I noticed all the ribbons I had put up were gone. I led us around what I knew to be the course and was starting to doubt myself until we started to see arrows again. The only way the rest of the riders were going to be able to follow the course was to follow our tracks.
Soon we were at the second manned check point, EGG NOG! I slammed it and rode away. They must have all sipped it because I was by myself for several miles. They caught me just before the turn to lake 36 which had to be eliminated, THANK GOD! That grass would have been sooooo hard today. I led us all the way back to hwy 94 and we had to stop and wait for the light. Jay had fallen off a bit and was able to catch back on. I led us back the way we had originally came, when we turned on the asphalt Devin said,"it's just you and me". We pushed it a little, but nothing too crazy. After rounding the last turn on the Hamberg we could see two guys standing up the trail, we both thought this was the finish. A sprint ensued the likes of most have never seen before. I was a full bike length behind Devin and pulled around for the win......Oh crap, that wasn't the finish! They pointed to the top of the mound, "finish is up there!" I slammed on my brakes to make the turn and rode up to the base of the stairs to the top. If I hadn't just given everything I had.....well Devin still would have beat me to the top. He crushed me! I carried my bike in my right hand until I heard that wrist snap and had to switch to the other hand. That wrist snapped just as I got to the top step. I looked back and it appeared as though I had 2nd wrapped up, more importantly, I was done. Devin beat me last year and did it again this year. The Doctor fled to another state when he sensed the thrashing he would take if he showed up this year.
My Ned Overend costume consisting of a 1991 replica of the jersey Ned wore when he won his UCI World Championship in 1990(yes, I have an 18 year old jersey), a pair of matching Specialized yellow paneled tights(that weren't much better than a pair of pantie hose......er, a, so I've heard), a slightly off era Specialized 2 Calorie Quest subzero helmet, the closest thing I could come up with for goggles, a mustache and signature Overend mole(which he had removed a few years back), was not enough for today's temps. I was very under dressed although the Oakley ski goggles rocked! The elastic cracked when I first put the jersey on, I'm sure there was someone there today that was born after I bought that jersey. Sad thing is, the only thing I didn't have sitting in my house was the stache. I drove all over looking for one Saturday night.
This costume was more of an interpretation of Ned Overend, say what he might have turned into had he not won the World Championship title, then slowly expanded and "let himself go". I'd say I looked more like a porn star has-been trying to hide his comb over under a helmet.
Gino, CFR, Nico, Jim, Hoff, the Professor, Punchor and many others put their hearts and souls into this for the last several weeks. Thanks to them and all the other volunteers.
P.S. After most were done I talked to several people asking questions about placement and had they passed so and so. Questioning someone about where they finished is the worst thing someone can do in bike racing and it was lame to do so. I wanted to say here that anyone I offended, I'm sorry. I felt like I pitched in a little with this race and when the small amount of help I gave was torn down by hunters or rangers it bummed me out. Truely I was more interested in whether or not everyone got to ride all of the course, it just came out way wrong. This "non-race" was about so much more than winning or placing and I lost sight of that for a bit. So I've tried to tell the ones I know, but can't tell the people I don't know and have to hope they look here. I'm sorry for doubting anyone's efforts today, you all rock.
