Echo
Today was the first mountain bike race of the season….all the way out in Echo, Oregon.
Starting just before dawn, James, Will and I loaded up in the Team Extreme Xterra and hit the highway for the three hour drive to Echo. We made really good time and got to town just about 9am, leaving us plenty of time to get our registration and numbers for the race and head back to the car to gather gear and start warming up for the 11am start. I should also note that the weather this year was amazingly opposite to last years weather which was cold, very, very cold…windy and just plain miserable; this year saw blue skies, warm temps, shorts, short sleeve jersey’s no booties for the feet.
After the neutral roll out, james and I (both racing Cat 1) made our way to the singletrack and the real racing; James and I lost contact with one another at this point and didn’t reconnect until the finish. At last years race, I had just come home from a trip overseas (literaly had only gotten off the plane the afternoon before) this year I had no trips planned and plenty of base miles to test. With the warm dry weather, the course was fast and the competition stood ready for the challenge. The course also added a new really fun section on the backside that added a couple of extra miles and a lot of enjoyment, kudos to race organizers! James and I battled well within our fields with James taking a strong 13th and a 20th for myself.
Will’s race started shortly after ours, since this was Will’s first mtb race in many years he opted to start in the Cat 3 field in order to get his feet wet. Before the race I tried to give Will my course knowledge from last year hoping that he would be able to use it to his advantage, which I think for the most part worked for him; worked for him until the he ran in to some bad luck with two flats. Once done fixing his flats he had to work his way back through the field to try and regain his original position. With some energy to spare, Will was able to pull down 10th in his first race, which I think considering the mechanicals is a fantastic result.
VRV had a good day today and a lot of thanks go out to Mike Ripley of Mudslinger Event and the fine folks of Echo and the Red to Red organizers for what is quickly becoming a “Don’t miss” race at the top of the calendar.
(on a side note, my finishing time today of 2:18 would have posted me a 2nd place last year….)
Comments
One Comment on Echo
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earl on
Sun, 7th Mar 2010 9:10 am
nice work guys. congrats.
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