Racing in the Sun

This is not MTB racing, but it's a good picture of Tanner ripping the steep powder.

Here's the MTB. This on our pre-ride on Friday. Doug is working hard up a tricky ledge. He got it figured out and nailed it during the race.

This is a cool wash on the 1st climb of the race course. It's a drag race to get to this narrow opening first. No passing in this section. Doug's in front of T-man in this picture.

Here's Tanner coming down one of the steeper decents. The new bike made it back home with no marks. Better than Dad.

Here I am just after coming up a foot and half ledge. I managed to scratch my frame when I laid my bike down to take some pictures just after this.

Tanner on the podium for 3rd in the 13 - 15 sport / expert. Tanner had a great 1st lap, but paid for it later. This was his first mulitple lap race and he's now learning about pacing. He rode hard and really battled the last lap when he was struggling. I was proud of his effort and willingness to try difficult things.

To my surprise, I won the 40+ Expert race. I have been doing base and strength work and expected to get hammered on the climbs. However, I won the drag race to the first single track, opened a gap and held it up the 1st climb. I then opened the gap on the decent and started to get confident. I was able to ride really steady laps (all 3 lap times within 45 seconds of each other) and increased my lead to a 2 and 1/2 minute win. It was my best MTB race result ever. I won 2 races last year, but they were against small fields. This was a good field with some strong guys. It's good to see the hard work from the last couple of years starting to pay-off. The Cross season was a bit of a break-through, so hopefully, this is the start of something good.

Here's Doug in the GC Connection shirt just off the podium with a 4th place finish in the 57+ group. Doug did great in his 1st MTB race and had a really good exprience. He rode very hard and gave it his all. He avoided any serious crashes and is on his way to becoming a true mountain biker. I was really proud of him.

All in all, we had a great time in very nice weather. For years, I would go to MTB races alone and have a good time with my race buddies. However, to race with Doug and T and for all of us to have some success was so much better. I look forward to a really fun year on the bike.

Daren