Those Okies know how to put on a good dirt race. Good venue, good trail and free beer... Double Lake this weekend. It's gonna be a fast one.
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prodium
... Sunday was the Reimers Ranch race. After a pleasant night in the wally world parking lot aboard the Mad Duck RV we were up at six, threw on a pot of coffee and headed for the ranch. There was time for a short warm up and then off to the staging area.
Lap 1: The whistle blows and we are off. I make it through the start straight without slicing a tire. Nice, already beat last years result. Should have knocked on wood. A quarter mile in and my rear tire is hissing at me. Luckily the Stan's does its duty and stops the hemorrhaging. I'm rolling through the single track in 4th. Scott Henry has already pulled away for his long time trial day at the front. Chasing Scott is young gun Kevin Fish. This kid is 16 years old and flying! He will be owning us in a couple years if he sticks with it. David Hanes is rolling third wheel, but snags a tree early and I slide by. Half way through lap 1 and Scotty is long gone. Kevin is around thirty seconds ahead of me and around twenty seconds back David and Rick Wetherald are riding together. The gaps stay the same through lap 1.
Lap 2: Through the first half of the course I can see Kevin and back through about seventh place. Counting off splits in my head it seems that the gaps are holding, though now Scotty is totally out of sight. Kevin holds his ground and I am wondering if im going to be out gunned by a 16 year old. The last mile or two of the trail is a combo of wide open double track into a head wind. Head down, driving through it in the big ring I can see in the distance David and Rick making a surge. They knock my gap down a little and I knock a bit out of Kevin's gap.
Lap 3: Through the start finish into the last lap and the pace is picking up. Over the first mile the urgency is heightened as Kevin starts to lose steam. Before long I am only five to seven seconds off his wheel. I gave up some precious time on the double track allowing David and Rick to knock a considerable time out of my gap. There is maybe a fifteen second spread from second to fifth at this point. A couple switchbacks later I sneak by Kevin. With David and Rick closing in I make my best effort to get out of sight. I'm on the run and maintaining my gap. My hunters are sitting about twenty seconds back with about three miles to go. Next thing I know I'm on the ground. I run and remount as quick as i hit the ground. I hear a concerning sound as I try to regain composure. My front derailleur bent in the fall. No more big ring. Onto the jeep road I am big ring-less. David launches an attack, separates from Rick and rolls by me. I grab his wheel, but can only hold onto it for a couple hundred yards. It was enough to keep me out of Rick's reach. I see Rick sit up and i do the same. Third man through the finish, managing my first podium in the Pro/Cat1 class. I'm stoked.
