Last year I managed to win this race but this year I had to treat it like good training miles. This was my first time racing up from Skull Valley without going around the Peaks first, so it was harder in that regard. I finished 6th after cramping something fierce and a couple of minor crashes. Gary had a much more epic story to tell, flying off his bike on one of those tall sketchy waterbars on the descent (racers you probably know exactly which one I'm talking about, the one with the rock), and crashing so hard he knocked his headset loose. After repositioning his shifters, brake levers, etc. he had another spill, sliding down the trail on his rump and ripping his shorts. This boy is a trooper! All this happened on the first gnarley descent and he still turned left and went down to skull valley and finished the race. One thing Gary will never do is quit a race and it's inspiring because some people quit races so easily. We both were about 20 minutes slower than we were last year but half the battle with races like these are getting it done and keeping a positive outlook. That we both manged to do pretty well.
You win some and you loose some. Here is a pic from our triumphant victory in the Co-ed Duo category (against Mr and Mrs Travis Brown) at Dawn to Dusk! Thanks to Chris and Dana for taking the photo and for loading us up in their Subaru for the trip to Gallup.
And in other news it looks like Summit Center is officially off the schedule for Memorial Day weekend, so who's up for a road trip to Angel Fire for the Chile Challenge?
