We headed out of town on Thursday morning. Didn't get as far as we hoped, we ended up spending the night in St. George Utah. We found out the Senior games are held there the first two weeks in October each year. I told Bonnie not to be surprised if we are back in St. George in 30 years or so. We rolled into Moab Friday afternoon and made our first stop at the poison spider for a couple for things I needed to pick up. Then we headed into town for lunch and who do we run into...the rest of the team on their way out of the restaurant. We come up with a plan and parted ways. Now would be a good time to let you know who was all involved in our weekend of fun. Four of us were racing. Brad, Chris, Charly (friend of Chris), and myself. The crew that total rocked it was Todd (Brad's bro. in law), Sean (chief mechanic), Kim ( Chris' wife) Kate (Chris' daughter) Bonnie and Finn.
Friday afternoon we set up our pit. The other racers and Todd prerode the course. After getting things set it was time for packet pick up, dinner, shopping, and sleep. Saturday morning we woke to very pleasant conditions and lucky for us they stayed that way the entire race. No wind, mild temps. and an awesome moon Saturday night.
The race started and things were going as planned. Brad and I rode together, not pushing too hard. I have heard just terrible things about this course, and many of my friends who are strong racers have dropped out of this race because it is so long and difficult. I was happy to take it easy and see how things panned out. Lap two we ran into Chris. He was having some troubles and wanted to work on them alone and assured us he'd be fine, so we passed him. Unfortunately Chris did not have the race he was hopping for. The next couple of laps went along pretty uneventful. On our fourth laps I suffered a mechanical like I've never seen. As we were descending a steep fast down hill I go to grab my rear brake and I hear a noise and then no brakes. I hit my front brake and flip into so very soft sand. Brad stopped and we assessed the damage. My rear roter was missing all but one screw. The one screw that was left ripped off the hub. We limped it in making sure I didn't do anything to damage my hub any further. Sean switch out he rear wheel on my back up bike and we were off and running. By the way this is the only mechanical Brad and I had the entire race. Our Siren Songs held up great.
The rest of the race went like so many. Lap times got longer, we got slower, the crew stayed ready and willing and able every time we hit the pit. We had a little bit of excitement when Brad lost his lights...on two different laps. When the sun came up we were able to trudge out two more laps to finish with 13. We did it, we finished Moab!
Now came the wait for awards. And we waited. But it was worth it. Brad didn't keep his third place for the series, he moved up to second! Way to go Brad! He had a great season we are all proud.
Here is a shot of our pit before the race.
Don't we all look nice and relaxed before the fun starts.
These were my weapons of choice to take on the dreaded beast call 24 hours of Moab.
This is the guy that took care of all of our bikes, 8 total, throughout the race.
Here Brad and I are as we come in for the last time. What a ride!
So that it the 2009 season is over and I'm looking forward to goofing around. A huge thank you goes out o Bonnie and Finn for all of their understanding, support, and love. I could not have this lifestyle without them. Thanks to Siren Bicycles for dependable, fast, and comfortable bikes. My new Song SL was just the bike for this season. I could spend the rest of this entry thanking everybody but I think I'll just do that in person. Stay tuned we have big plans for next season, brad and I have some different ideas as far as endurance racing is concerned...
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