Single Speed Midwest World of All Time and Beyond

Success! I completed a mountain bike race for the first time since March! Actually the last two weekends have provided some positive good time competition, one of them went well (and was fun) and the other one was just fun. Let's start with the one that went well.

The New Belgium Urban Assault Ride rolled through town for the second successive year to increased participation and searing heat. Christopher and I had been plotting our domination for 12 full months after he and Margo rocked last year's co-ed class and Lizz and I placed fifth in the same category. We had a strategy, the taper was applied and the pre-race nutrition of fermented juniper and fizzy quinine water was guzzled by the gallon (thanks Dave and Casey!) We showed up bleary eyed but ready for the start, having scored a perfect D+ on our super secret front row earning quiz. The LeMans start was furious and before we knew it, we were knocking down bowling pins at REI, completing brain bending puzzles at Mesa, staddling each other sweatily at Big Shark and drilling paceline style down Delmar for stair sprints up the City Museum. The mayhem ended with a swim at the Holiday Inn and saw us crossing the inflatable obstacled finish line in a dominating display of Urban superiority. The Ranger flowed freely and there was much rejoicing of a lifetime dream finally realized. Lizz and Margo took third in the women's category and we all had something to celebrate. Maybe a little too much, but that Ranger is super tasty.

Fast forward to the following weekend and the Midwest Single Speed Championship. Race summary- I got to my bike quick, did a graceful remount directly onto my top tube (probably need to work that out before cross), rode in fourth for a lap, then fifth, then began crashing a lot. I stopped for a beer after lap 2 and chatted with Dan and Christopher before deciding to finish lap 3 to say I had avoided another DNF. I had a blast and don't care at all where I placed, which was probably poorly considering all the face time I gave the ground and various trees. Maybe I should have ridden Blue Steel a bit more before racing through some tight and twisties, cause it surprisingly rode nothing like my Epic. Go figure. Again, the beer flowed afterward although I kept it in check with a two hour drive ahead of me. DB removed the failures from his new big wheeler (what is the world coming to?), put on a funny outfit, smoke showed everyone else and had many beers after. Riding bikes for fun is fun and I'm glad to see that sentiment shared by good friends. Lets keep this action rolling and remember why we do this in the first place as the months of skinsuits and embrocation come a callin'.