The Stampede

At home it had rained from when we woke up Saturday morning, and just finished sometime Sunday morning, so we knew it was going to be a wet race!  But the sun was starting to shine, so we thought we might luck out and the trails would dry up a bit.  On the drive up to Devil’s Backbone Brewery, the further we drove the more rainy it became, with ominous low dark clouds and fog.  But we wouldn’t be swayed, a race we had registered for and race we shall!

The race starts off with a 1.8ish mile climb to the top of Brent’s Gap.  That sure separates out the racers very quickly!  The climbing didn’t end there, with climbs up Horseshoe Mountain.

The trails were very muddy- I ate a lot of mud and was picking dirt out of my ears after the race.  The two very steep descents this course was known for I just slid down with my brakes lightly on, fishtailing and trying to stay upright.  I’m not sure what others did, but it was a rush!  Loved the course- you could tell in dry weather it would be very fast.  Very narrow single track, with some double track thrown in.  Lots of climbing and descents.

I knew that Tom Richeson, a climber, would do well in this race and so he did- he ended up getting 2^nd in Expert Vet Men (35+) and 3^rd overall!  Yay Tom!  Other standings and podiums from a die-hard group of Design Physics riders:  Jim Fisher 2^nd Sport Men 36+, Byron Gonzales 3^rd Beginner Men, Sonya Gagnon 3^rd Sport Women, and Matt Juaneza 7^th Sport Men.  Full results here:  http://www.cycleva.com/S12results.html.  Jim had brought his friend Tom Jeffrey, it was Tom’s first mountain bike race.  Tom ended up placing first over Jim, does Jim regret bringing him?  Hah hah.  I don’t think so.  Do I sense a potential new team member?

Thanks to the owners of Devil’s Backbone Brewery for hosting the event and for letting us use their private land for the race.  Thanks also to Woody for putting on a very well organized event- course was well marked, many course marshalls to keep everyone in line, great free lunch and beer after, and I must say a very nice payout indeed!  Also a shoutout to our teammate Thom Flynn, who had wanted to race but instead sacrificed and was a course marshall, stopping traffic so we could get back on the highway safely for each of our laps.  Thanks Thom!