570 is the number...

This weekend finished up my 2008 race season with Dawn till Dusk down in Phoenix. This race was surprising, awesome, and left me in a lot of pain. The competition in the race was tough with a bigger turn out than expected. There were a total of 52 competitors in the geared open class. Some big dogs from SoCal jumped out to an early lead and set a crazy pace. It was about halfway through the race that I finally figured out that I was sitting in 4th place. I held that position up until a frustrating last two minutes of the race. In the very last section of single-track I got passed by two guys in my class and my legs had no response. I ended the race in 6th place. Of course Tom ended up winning the Solo Single Speed category.

I kind of thought that a 10 hr race on the Pemberton Trail would be the easiest race of the ones I’ve done in the last couple months. The problem is that Pemberton is not very technical and is very fast. This allowed everyone to push hard the whole time. The nine laps I got in put me somewhere between 140 and 150 miles for the day. Sunday morning when I woke up I felt like I had been hit by a truck.















Not sure if it was just this race that put me in pain or all of the racing over the last couple of months combined. I think at this point my body is ready for a break. In reflecting on the last couple months I figured out that since Payson in the middle of September, my off-road race miles alone are somewhere around 570 miles. That is the busiest fall I think I have ever had in regards to racing. Despite the aches and pains I had a blast and am looking forward 2009.

75 Day Recap
1st - Solo Geared Open – 12 Hours Payson Stampede
9th - Geared Open - Tour of the White Mountains 67 Mile
1st - Marathon Open - Giant Dust Devil Estrella
3rd - Solo Expert - 12 Hours of Temecula
6th – Solo Geared Open - 12 Hours of Fury
6th – Solo Geared Open - Dawn Till Dusk