Feel the Burnin'

OH MAN OH MAN! Mesa Cycles out did themselves again. This race would be fun even without all of the hard work that they put into it. However having real time scoring, giant checks for the winners, an endless river of golden American Pabst, and Leadville style belt buckles for the winners will keep us mountain bikers, and what few roadies showed up, talking till next October.

THE RACE
I volunteered to be the first man up for my team. This does not seem like a big deal until you factor in that the start is la mans style with everyone from every category starting at once and running around a field to their bike which you are hoping has not been stepped on or have a smoke bomb near it. I was still waking up when the horn ripped open everyone nerves and we started sprinting in out carbon fiber race shoe that were designed for only one purpose. I got to my bike which was next to a smoke bomb and headed down the paved road at 30+ mph looking about about the 10th spot heading into the woods. I blew up like and kept getting passed. I was deep in the red and horribly shaken and never settled down. Fearing flats I had way too much pressure in my rear tire and was spinning out on the short yet wicked steep gravel climbs. Nothing went my way and I crashed hard twice one time tearing my rear drerailuer cable housing leaving me without some of my high gears. Not a very good foundation for my team of Scott and Mark. Both of who did awesome out there and kept it interesting.
My second lap I felt like the afterburners were finally engaging. After going over the handle bars on the first rock in the woods I found a groove. I was railing corners like, scorching the earth on the descents and keeping my momentum through the climbs. My music was blasting though my ears and straight into my muscles and was feeling fast.
Lap three I came out of the gates pissed at myself which means I was going all out and going to hold it till the legs exploded in lactic acid and which point I would have pedaled with my hands. The bike however was to thrilled with my over zealous riding on this lap and the rear tire when flat in mile two of the twelve mile lap. As a thank you for asking if I was okay or if I needed anything, by all who passed me I dropped the hammer and caught all but one of them (Dan Furhman) before crossing the line.
Scot had a flat and a mechanical on his night lap which kept me from going out on a forth lap which I was really counting on. But that is racing you prepare and you lay it all on the line and if you can say you had anything left then you really did not race. As for myself and my team we had nothing left at 9:30pm when LB (Mark) rolled out of the woods and across the line. I would not have traded anyone of them for anyone else and an stoked that I got to be a part of this awesome race.
Big shout out the DRJ racing's A team of Chris (Fastest Lap at 59:59, Wes, And Bob, who had an apocalyptic battle on their hands and emerged victories with those shinny belt buckles and bragging rights for another year. D-Wayne putt his heart into it and smiled like always. Mad respect for your insanely hard season and 9 grueling laps. Jim, Reevis, Tom, Jon, and John also threw it down like titans proving once again that DRJ Racing is like legendary like the yankees except everyone likes us. Ninja Dave came in with 5 laps in six hours and earned his belt buckle too then gave me a trade mark over the head low five making me feel just as pro. Thanks again to everyone for the words of encouragement, the competition, the stories, and most importantly making this race rock like new years 1999.