Hilbert 3.

What a day. Going in, I knew that I could win the series if the cards fell into place. They did, but it took a lot of work.

I went out in typical k29er fashion...first into the woods, despite being on a SS in 32x19. Held a decent pace for lap one...maybe too fast, but I didn't over do it too much. Lap two went much the same, except Shawn told me to back it off, and so I did. End of that lap, Old Man Kelnberger and Burris caught me. Burris rolled to his pit, and that was the last I saw of him till we were done with the race. From there on, it was just me and the Old Man. I think I pulled him through lap 3, he passed me at the end, then led me through 4. We had negotiated taking it back a notch for 5, and I didn’t see him for much of it, just a glimmer in some switchbacks. From there on, it was mostly a mind game, wondering when he was going to attack. I tried to stay steady, fighting off some cramps through the later laps. At the start of lap 9 at 4 hours, 30 minutes into the race, I was informed that he was 45 seconds back. So I jumped. And it hurt. Things started locking up all over my legs. I was trying to massage them in places while I rode, manipulating my pedal stroke and doing whatever I could to keep the legs from hitting a bad spot that would spell doom. Shawn met me at the bottom of a short steep climb and raced me on foot up to the top and let me know I was up by a minute. I tried not to dial it back much, as I knew what the Old Man was capable of. Towards the end, Shawn met me again and let me know I had picked up another 20 seconds. From there, it was smooth sailing. Turns out the Old Man stopped to pee at one point (let the old man bladder jokes fly). I needed to pee for about 2.5 hours but held onto it. That may have been the difference. 1^st Place Mens Enduro. Double series points at the last race, which should make me the overall winner. Madness.

Special thank to Shawn, Dave and the entire Bike Factory crew. The support was top notch. They kept me fueled and motivated and I would have been screwed without them. To Ted Gayle, thanks for the loaner Rig. While my intent was to spend equal time on both bikes, it was readily apparent to me that I was faster on yours. 8 laps for the Suspended Mocha Rig, 1 lap on the Rigid.

For the record, many of the elite weren’t able to participate. That may have made it easier overall for Kelnberger and I, but we did everything in our power to ensure that it wasn’t a cakewalk. It was a hard day. And it felt good to win.