Once again R&C has put on a great event! The day was perfect for riding, let a lone racing! Vail was tacky, fast and a shit load of fun! It was a bit cold at registration, but once the sun came out it got really nice. Robert decided to use the "Rolling" course from the 31st race. I enjoy the course because there isn't "Bridges". But it does lose some of its charm since a lot of the technical decents are omitted. But if you're up on your cardio and love speed, this course is for you. I started off great, my HR spiked a bit early, but I managed to get that down. Half way through the first lap I took a trip off the bike and slammed the ground hard. I hit the back of my helmet first which gave me an instant headache. I took me a couple seconds to get back on the bike. But I got back on and kept going. The crash did affect my lower back and I was a lot slower my last 2 laps. But I hung in there and finished off as strong as I could. I ended up 1st in Sport Men 19-29. Thanks to Robert and Crew for a great day! As always the riding was great and the raffle prizes were awesome as well. I always have to give a big thanks to Marcus from Pronghorn Racing for coming out to support the events and me. 

 Robert's done it again! Putting on a superb race for the local racers! Thanks again for letting us come out and enjoy those awesome trails!

The morning started early for me. Rolled up around 7ish, registered and took my friend Jason out on part of the course to warm up. It was the usual R&C style course. Even though we all agree that "Bridge Climb" sucks we had no other way around it. But, putting "Dragons's Back" back on the Beg./Sport course was great! As always "Tunnel of Love" is my fav. I felt fairly good for most of the first lap, but then lower back pain set in. I was on the new rig and just got done building it the night before. So I had very little time to tweak it. But I stuck it out for the next lap and finished fairly well. I was happy to have some competition finally in Sport/Clyde! Now I need to get my butt in better shape and tweak the rig for the next race. 

The Short Track was a blast like always! Even though I was lapped by all the Expert/Pro riders I held in there for a 1st place. The ST course was a riot! The burms, sand pit, and tight turns on the Go-kart track, it makes for a fast, fun time!

Thanks to Marcus and Pronghorn/Icetoolz for coming down to support me. Thanks to Jason for coming out and trying his first race! Also thanks to Robert and his Family for the great time, prizes, and awards! Looking forward to the 14th!

 Well, since starting the series in Nov. I've been hooked. Robert and crew put on an awesome event. It just got better with each passing race. This one was def. one of the most fun events I've been to. This last event was def. the biggest one of the series. From the crowd turn out to the amount of raffle swag it was just a great time for all. 

My weekend started Sat. night with the night crit. 20 min of short track madness. I was having a great time till my seat post started slipping and I started losing pedal stroke and my knees and legs started cramping. I ended up getting lapped 2 or 3 times, I forget and Robert made me do an extra lap too, lol. But I finished it off and enjoyed the short track. I was the only Sport Clyde to show so by default I got 1st, lol. But I would've been 3rd in Sport 19-29. 

Sun. I made some tweaks to my loaner Pronghorn. I swapped out the tires and swapped the seat posts to try and remedy the slipping post issue. The start was good, I just took my time and paced myself since I was on a demo bike that I didn't have much time on. Part way through the first lap I had to stop and adjust the seat post a couple times and a shifting gremlin reared its head. I worked through it onto the second lap. The second lap was a bit slower but I personally felt smoother and faster. But about 1/2 was through the knees started up again from the night before and so did my hips and lower back. It got to the point to where I just finished out the 2nd lap and called it a day. Had I been on my own bike I would've weeded out the small issues that lead to the ill fit. But atleast I got a good solid 20 miles on the new Pronghorn over the course of the weekend. The course was A LOT easier than the last 2 for the Beg./Sport riders. There weren't any long drawn out climbs. Just a bunch of "Quick ups" with some awesome quick drops. I'm really glad Rober kept "Tunnel of Love". That section gets me in a great mood when I hit it.

I'd like to thank Marcus from Pronghorn Racing for coming out with his demo fleet and for the support this weekend. I'm really glad I got to ride the bike for the last event. Also, a big thanks to my SAG crew for coming out and cheering me on. Without them it wouldn't be as much fun. The biggest thanks goes to Robert and Crew for a class act event. Thanks for all the laborious details you put into this series. The Number plates, the medals, and the COW BELL trophies! You can count on me being there on the 30 for the start of the Spring Shootout! 

Really looking forward to hitting up the last race in the series. Its looking like it will be a great weekend of racing with Super D, a Night Crit, and XC. I'm stoked and really looking forward to doing this series again next year!

 

 Went up to the 2nd race in the series this morning. Got there nice and early to register and set up the pit. I ended up registering Sport Clyde for XC and thought I'd give the Super D a shot.

The XC course was IMO much more fun this time around. We started out the same but instead of using the switchback to decend into "Tunnel of Love" we used a trail Robert called "Dragon Back". That I have to say was my 2nd fav part. I still have some work to do, I ended up hiking the switchback climb again and had some comfort issues I need to weed out with the bike. But all in all it was a great XC race.

The Super D was really cool. It was my first Super D and this was one of the most informal races I've ever participated in. The start was just like a group of school kids getting ready to race each other down the mountain for the hell of it. I used one of the C-dale Rize demos they had there. Didn't have enough time between races to set it up properly so it wasn't that great of a run but was still a lot of fun. 

The results should be up in a couple days. The turnout wasn't as good as the first race. I'm hoping more of you guys make it out for the next. Its a great series and Robert and his family/friends put on an awesome event.

I ended up 1/1 in Sport/Clyde and 2nd in 19-29 Sport in the Super D. 

Big thanks to Robert and his family and all the sponsor for a kickass event. Thanks to Paul (qua77ro) for shooting the event again. Thanks to the guys at Dale for letting me demo the Rize. Also thanks to my Fiance, friend Tony and Susan for coming out to cheer me on. 

See you all on Jan 3!
Gallery!