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Hot, Hot, Hot...
The Two Mile Run - Bike The Wilds Series - race was fast, dry and you guessed it HOT.
Attending the race from the Ag3r-ButlerHealthSystem squad (Decked out in the new Ag3r Camo Kits) included seasoned dirt worms Richie Allen, Dirty Mike Maher, Scorpion Bobby Irwin, Fast Hannah Brewer and Newb N8 Black.
The Expert Race went off with a LeMans style run up a small grassy hill to the bike park where the real race began. From my vantage point at the bottom of the hill Scorpion Bobby was one of the first to his bike and one of the first to the single track. A definite advantage given the tight turns and narrow passages of the Two Mile Run County Park Mountain Bike Trail.
I did not see where Fast Hannah entered the single track.
The Sport Race went off about 20 minutes later with the same LeMans start and same race to the single track.
My start put me about 30 riders back going into the single track which gave me a prime spot to watch riders falling off their bikes as well as the trail, while jockeying for position on the barely bar width trail. This traffic jam put a sizable gap between the leaders and the main field. The first three miles of the track is a seemingly never ending climb to the top of the park. I latched onto a wheel of a rider in a Nationwide Jersey and allowed him to pull me out of the valley. Once at the top the climb, the back side of the park is a very narrow and very twisty, kinda flat, kinda downhill section that allows for no flow and no momentum.
Riding this trail kept reminding me of Luke and Leia on the Forest Moon of Endor and the speeders crashing into the trees in Return of the Jedi...
Of course my riding style is that of a bull in a china shop so it was hard for me to attain and maintain any kind of rhythm or pace. Only twice did my wide bar width clash with narrowly placed saplings and toss me to the ground.
As the more nimble riders cleared the carnage from the start of the race, I was being caught and passed. This continued for two laps which I completed in just over 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Overall it was a very fun race and I could definitely be pulled from the road to do it again.
I believe that my overall place was 49 out of 62... I have no idea where I finished in category as I cannot decipher the race results on the Bike the Wilds website...
Bobby, Mike & Richie all raced well and finished ahead of me....
Bobby finished in 5th Place Overall Expert
Mike finished in 15th Place Overall Sport (3rd Place 42-29 yrs)
Rich finished in 18th Place Overall Sport (4th Place 50+)
Nate finished in 49th Place Overall Sport (8th Place 35-41 yrs.)
...while Fast Hannah finished in 11th Place Overall Expert (1st Place Women's Expert)
Kudos to her!
Links (and credits) to PHOTOS that I could find online...
http://recordedlight.zenfolio.com/p594670376
N8
