The 305: Flagstaff MBAA Final

Well, we have an entire series of mountain bike racing under our belt and it is only Mid-May. It seems so weird.

Tim and Elizabeth got to our house Friday afternoon. We headed out to eat some pasta and to see how many drinks a waiter could spill on a customer. Fortunately it was at another table. We all felt bad for that waiter. We felt like it was our confusing check splitting that got him frazzled.

We drove up Saturday morning and quickly found all the Prescott peeps (Jeff, Jaime, Brady, Jeanette, Tim, Keith, and Toby.)

The finals were in Flagstaff.

The course was so much fun and was pretty suited to climbers. There were some issues with insufficient course markings but fun nonetheless. Everybody started around 11:00 am and the Expert men and women had to do the same 27 mile course.

Sara took the win but it was a bitter sweet victory. Sara won but was not the first women across the line. Spring who has been one of Sara’s main competitions all season came across the line first. She figured out that she missed a major turn and cut over an hour off of her race. The even sadder part of Sara’s victory was that Christina was dominating the race by several minutes when she missed a turn. Christina got pretty far off course and figured out that the time loss was significant. It was a big bummer.

I had a blast in my race. There was a group of about 6 of us that rode away from the field in the initial hour + of climbing. It was fun cause I had a chance to ride with a couple of my new teammates who usually fly by me at the speed of light in most races. I think the Prescott altitude helped a bunch for this race. Unfortunately Darrin started pulling away from the rest of the group right before a major turn that could have been marked a little better. We were all yelling our heads off but he was too far up to hear us. His main competitor was in the lead group with us. I know I would have been lost myself several times if I hadn't been riding with Tom (Freak on a SS) the whole race. I don't know how he climbs like he does on a SS. I ended up getting 2nd in the Expert 19-39.

All in all it was a fun series. Fun people and good riding. No surprise Sara took 1st for the series in her class. The surprise was that with the final being double points and another top Expert not being there it bumped me up to 2nd for the series in my class.

Got some cool awards but the real award was going to stay at Christina's mom's house in Sedona. After a great meal at the Beaver Street Brewery in Flag. Christina, Tom, Sara, and I headed to Sedona for some good hang time.

I think Tom is part rooster cause he got us up shortly after sunrise. It was good cause we were able to have a curb-side breakfast at the IGA and hit the trails before it got too hot. We had an awsome ride followed by a mexican food coma. Good times!

NEXT STOP P-VILLE, IL!

Waiting for awards with the peaks in the background.