SCOLETRAIN

Great Event - Good Times


This past weekend I added another new favorite to my list of races/festivals that I want to participate in for many years to come. The Copper Harbor Fat Tire Fest was an amazing event from the challenging course, (Paul's Plunge Video) to all the people that made this a memorable weekend happen with it's many scenic views, great food and good beer to help some of us mask the pains from the race. To sum up my two hours on the bike you can look HERE to see where I finished overall and HERE for my age group result. The course was what mountain biking is all about as each mile offered a surprise for me with no previous laps ridden on this course making every rock, bridge and corner a challenge. I felt strong after the first five miles where my legs started to respond as they acted as though they were warmed up finally. This course was a handful for 95% of the lap where I found that you only had a few sections where you could actually relax when you were notclimbing or trying to hit the right lines on the fast flowing downhills. My only bad experience on race day was the fact that I couldn't pre-ride the whole course. I was able to ride the two mile start hill and the last few technical descents that were in the last two miles when we were warming up. I lost a lot of time on the first lap not knowing where the course went and didn't really ride to aggressively on the downhills until the final lap of the 24 mile race. Luck was also on my side as just before finishing I got excited and pushed a little too early for what I thought was the finish corner and final stretch after I had caught and passed the 3rd place rider after Phil's Plunge in the last mile. What I thought was the finish corner turned out to be the entrance to the big open field beside the finish chute with riders from the 13 mile race strung out that we had to ride around before seeing the finish line, timing clock and where I finally could see the race announcer whose voice I could hear over the last mile as I slowly and painfully turned the big ring to the finish line. It turned out to be a great few hours on the bike as I blew away my goal of just being in the top ten after staying within the top seven throughout most of the race before moving up in the overall when a few riders had mechanicals and I ran down a few others just before the finish. At my age I'll take a top three overall finish on any day. Thanks again to Specialized Bicycles, the Hayes Group(Hayes Brakes, SUNringle Wheels, Manitou Forks), Ergon and Adventure 212 for keeping me competitive and healthy this season. Next up on the schedule is the WORS Smokin Spoke in Rhinelander. Pedal on...

Almost Heaven

Brockway Mtn.

Too many awesome pictures to possibly take.

Home for the weekend.

Fellow Specialized racers(Darrin & John) from the Cronies Team in Waupaca, WI.

Just before awards, music & beer.

Mark sampling the water after finishing 41st out of 106 on a brutally demanding course at our over sized swimming hole at Lake Fannie Hoe.