I am officially 0 for 3 at this event. Can never seem to pull it together to execute a good race from start to finish. It's always one thing or another. Finished in 6 hrs and 24 minutes....about 4 minutes slower than 2009...but on a tad longer course. Finished 20th by the time it was said and done. I knew it was going to be an 'off' weekend when I arrive Saturday to Gunnison....and forgot my cycling socks. I have never forgot to bring anything to a race. Socks....I am picky about. I was stuck hunting around town for a less superior footwear. Good socks for endurance races are one of life's little luxuries.Lap 1 was OK...as I turned it out right at the 3 hour mark. Kind'a knew it wasn't going to be my day as I was a bit "off" riding through the trail. Seemed like I was hitting every big rock and taking just about every bad line that was available. To add injury to insult, I went over the bars on a rock drop....smashed my knee. No big deal, but a HUGE blow to what little mojo I had going.
Lap 2 wasn't fun for me. First 45 minutes were OK, then it all went down hill from there. Still being plagued by lap 1 bad mojo....I pedaled out lap 2 with a simple goal of getting to the end and not braking anything on me or my bike. Overall result by this time really didn't matter.
HR and elevation data from the Growler.Overall, the Growler is about as perfect as it gets for an organized mtb marathon. Just a bummer I can never have a good ride here.
Next up, the Bailey HUNDO.