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On Saturday I rode my first full century.  Wrote a little song about it… Like to hear it?  Here it goes!

Okay, it’s not a song exactly… more of a blog post but I guess you can hum to yourself while you read it.

This was the fifth organized bike ride I’d signed up for this year.  I’d attempted the full century (100 mile) distance once before in April, but we ultimately chose a shorter route (due to body pain and fitness issues).  Saturday morning I, again, partnered up with Martin and Shelley for an attempt at the full distance bike ride.  This time it was a ride around the route would take us through Western Washington and some incredibly beautiful scenery!

We started out at 6:20a and hit the Burke Gillman Trail heading north.  I’m not a big fan of that trail as it’s bumpy, busy and a bit narrow.  The last two issues weren’t so bad since it was so early though.  At the first rest stop a woman walked up to Martin basically told him that she’d be trying to hang out in the slipstream we (read: Martin and Shelley) were carving out.  Her son had decided that was going to make the ride “sooo easy!”.  We grabbed a few snacks and took off and, true to her word, she hopped back on her bike and settled in behind us.  Another couple miles down the road I looked back and she and her son were gone… oh well.

From there we headed around the Sammamish River Trail and eventually dropped down into Marymoor Park in Redmond.  Up until this point the route had been pretty well marked, but starting in Marymoor the markings became less frequent… or at least less visable.  We stopped a couple times to check the route (at one point a police officer had to assure us we were going the right way) but ultimately found our way.  This is where the first climb of the day began.  We’d had 25 miles of flat to warm us up, so I felt pretty good on the climb.  Not too steep.  What goes up, must come down, so we enjoyed a fun decent down the hill, wound through a few rollers and then up to the next rest stop.

This rest stop was the first, and only, with “real” solid food.  We sucked down a sandwich and some other assorted goodies, stretched out our bodies and snapped a couple pictures before heading back out.  This section of the course was basically the Flying Wheels Century route in reverse.    While the ride was mostly uneventful with regard to problems, on this section I got a flat.  I’m not sure how I managed, but some how I wound up with a finishing nail in my rear tire.  After a super quick tube change by Master Tech Criminale we were again on our way.

I’d read from the event materials that one of the rest stops would be serving up pie.  Once I’ve got pie on the brain, it’s tough to get it out.  So I was relieved that the next rest stop was the PIE STOP!  Though we’d just had sandwiches, I still had a little room for pie.  Marionberry… yum!  I considered trying some dutch apple as well but decided that I probably shouldn’t over do it.

Throughout the ride, folks had followed behind us to benefit from the slipstream effect… but on I don’t think I’d ever seen the kind of train that developed on this leg.  At one point I looked back and there must have been 25 riders all single file hiding from the wind.  Martin and Shelley had pulled for the entire ride and still obviously had plenty in the tank as they took the speed up to about 25 MPH.  At that speed people just weren’t able to hang on and they dropped off a few at a time.  By the time we hit the next stop sign, all but two were gone.

After that stop, we climbed gradually for a while until we reached I90.  During that climb my lower back started to tighten up a bit, but it wasn’t too bad.  I stretched it out as best I could in the saddle and kept on ridin’.  The next part of the course would take us on to I90 and really wasn’t looking forward to it, but in hindsight it wasn’t so bad.  About 1 1/2 miles, all downhill.

We stopped at the Talking Rain facility for the next rest stop where they were serving up their “Active Water”.  Our particular flavor was enriched with “Power!”.  That served as an inside joke for the rest of the ride!  From here we climbed up through Issaquah and worked our way over to Mercer Island.  We decided to skip the rest stop on Mercer Island and continued on to the finish.  We followed the route north along Lake Washington, around the Arbouretum, down through Montlake and through the University.  As we were approaching the finish we came up on a family riding along the Burke Gilman… as we came up we ran the bell and annouced “passing on your left”.  The mother moved over and called out to her daughter, “Move over to the right!”  to which the daughter, probably 6-7 yrs old,  replied, “I AM ON THE RIGHT…” (wait for it)… “SHESH!”  I knew it wouldn’t probably help the situation, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

This pretty much brought us to the finish where we enjoyed a post ride meal of salmon, grilled asparagus, green and pasta salads.  There may have been a beer (or two) there as well.  It was a fantastic ride, the weather was nice and the company even better.

Miles traveled: 91.6
Song stuck in my head: I Got a Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
Photos
Route

Late last year, for some unknown reason, I started running.  Perhaps it was stress, or maybe I was just tired of being so sedentary.  Whatever the reason, I decided early on that, if I was going to keep this up, I needed a goal.  The goal I decided on was to complete a half marathon so, in December 2008, I signed up for the Rock & Roll Half Marathon from Tukwila to Seattle.

I have to say, that this event was particularly well run!  When I signed up, I was “given” a training guide to get myself into condition to successfully run the event.  Though I didn’t follow it to the letter (spent way more time “cross training” on the bike and a lot less time running!), it was very helpful to keep me on my path.  Weeks before the race, I received an information email from the organizers instructing me on what I needed to do prior to, on and following race day.  Everything was smooth!

So the day before the run, I went down the Fitness Expo at the Qwest Field Event Center with my liability release and Photo ID in hand.   I was ushered directly to the registration area where they issued my my bib number (#19531).  The bib number had a tear off tab for your “free” T-shirt and another one for your gear check (more on that later)   Originally when I signed up, I wasn’t running particularly fast so when they asked me to estimate my finish time I listed 2:20.  Over the last few months my fitness level had improved and I was running much faster.   Since start time was based on estimated finish time, I asked how I could change my earlier estimate.  The proctor pointed me to a table reserved for just such changes and sent me on my way.  In the two weeks prior to the run I’d set a new goal for myself to finish in under 2 hours, so that’s the new estimated finish time that I gave the friendly folks at the corral change table.  I didn’t notice at the time, but instead of assigning me to the 2 hour corral, they put me in the 1:55 corral.  *shrug*  The remainder of my registration was equally smooth.  I got my shirt, my “goodie” bag and was directed to exit through the area with all their merchandise   Headed back to my car to run some errands.

The morning of the race I got up early (3:45a) and prepared “The Breakfast of Champions!” (read: pancakes).  You see, I have to eat “real” food at least 2 hours before I actually run otherwise my stomach complains.  It’s really annoying actually, but at least I know it about myself.  So I ate, I stretched, I worried, I relieved… you know, the usual. 

Since the marathon wasn’t starting in the same place it finished, the race organizers instructed us to park at the finish line and they would have shuttles to take us to the start.  I arrived at the finish around 5:15am to a TON of people filing through the parking lots toward the shuttle pickup location.  After standing in line for 30 mins, I finally made it to my big yellow school bus!

The traffic heading into Tukwila was very heavy.  I guess a lot of people didn’t want to mess around with the  shuttles and had arranged  for rides to the start line.  As we approached the freeway exit people were starting to get “creative”.  Unable to get over to exit freeway, they decided to pull over onto the shoulder just past the exit and people were jumping over the guard rails and down the ramp on foot!  It was at this point I realized that I had my camera in my jacket pocket and decided to snap a shot or two for posterity  

When we finally got off the freeway, we were turned onto a road (Interurban Ave I think) that was closed to all other traffic.  We pulled into the parking lot of a commercial park where a “roadie” (read: race volunteer) gave us her schpeel.   When we got off the bus, the first thing you saw was a TREMENDOUS number of port-a-potties (heh..he said potties).  Even with the large number of them, people were still lined up 20-30 deep.  It was at this time that I realized I had need of those same facilities   I decided, however, to first head over to the gear check area to drop off the jacket and pants that had kept me warm, but that were no longer necessary.  The gear check was, also, run very well.  They had 30+ UPS trucks labeled the letters that corresponded to the letters in your last name.  You pick your truck, affix your gear check tab from your race bib (with the INCLUDED zip tie) and hand it off.  The trucks, I’m assured, will be at the finish line and I can pickup my gear there.  Nice!  Now where can I find a place to answer the call of nature??  Hrm.. well.. um… EVERYWHERE!  When saw how long the lines were for some reason a story Martin had told recently about him “dropping trou”.  I  couldn’t remember what the story was about, only that it was the first time in a while that I’d hear that phrase used.  I seriously considered find a bush and “dropping trou” before deciding instead to wait in line

As I was standing in line, they started the race.  I wasn’t worried because my corral (#7) wasn’t scheduled to start for a bit.  However by the time I got over to the start line, I had to start with corral #10.  Coincidentally, after introducing myself to some of my fellow runners I learned that corral #10 was the one for the estimated 2 hour finishers!  I spoke with a guy who was doing the full marathon and when I replied that I was doing the half he said, “Smart Man” :-/

So begins the race!  I knew that I wanted to start off slow, which I figured wouldn’t be a problem with the sheer number of people running the race.  I knew, from a charity run I’d done a couple months earlier, that it was hard to get up to speed until people separated themselves out a bit.  At that run, I’d been frustrated how many people had over-estimated their abilities and were unable to keep up, forcing people to run around them.  I thought that same thing was happening with this group as well as I seemed to be struggling to get through people to get to a comfortable pace.

After about 3 miles people got separated enough that passing wasn’t a real problem.  Unfortunately it was at this time that a certain part of my anatomy decided to sabotage my run… That’s right I had to “go” again!!  Seriously?!?!  Never, and I mean never, before had I needed to “go” while running.   And my body was picking this time to buck the trend!??  After using some of the well placed port-a-potties (heh.. he said potties again!) I was back on track.  A bit pissed (oh yeah… that’s a pun alright), but back on track.  I decided I would kick up the pace a notch and see if I could catch the people I’d started with. 

It’s at this point I began to ponder this whole “Rock & Roll” aspect to this run.  In theory, it should be great.  Listening to live music while you run seems like a good thing.  Unfortunately, I just didn’t work for me.  Perhaps it was the fact that they couldn’t play very loud at that time in the morning, or perhaps it was the fact that I seemed to go by just as they were changing songs, but I don’t think I heard more than 10-15 seconds of each band (except the last one, but more on that later).  Oh well, I guess it might have been nice for the spectators.

About that time we were getting to the part of the course I was looking forward to (Seward Park Ave to Lake Washington Blvd) and I was feeling great!  Far better than I was expecting to feel, that’s for sure.  As we were running up that hill, there was a guy with his garden hose out with a mist going at the side of the road.  Getting a nice spray of cool water sounded pretty good to me right about then, so I made a line over to him and ran through.   I saw a woman sitting on the side of the road in tears… it was clear that she’d hurt herself and wasn’t going to finish the race.  I could totally empathize with her situation… all that training… all that time… and I don’t get to finish?!?!   That must be tough.  Another mile or so down the road I saw a woman running ahead of me and her shoulder looked… well.. odd.  As I got closer I could see that her shoulder was clearly separated!  She had her arm in a sling and was running pretty well.  Wow… that’s dedication… or insanity.

The race dropped us down the steep decline onto Lake Washington Blvd.  My knee squawked a little at that, but really that was the last time I really had any problem with it.  A bit further down the road I think I might have passed a friend’s sister (who I knew was running the race) but since I hadn’t seen her in over a decade I couldn’t be sure.  No time for chit-chat anyway, so I ran on.  It was here that I decided, “If you can’t run a half marathon in Seattle, along Lake Washington, with such perfect weather… you just can’t run it anywhere, ever!”   It was so beautiful running along the docks, parks and open spaces looking out over the water!  I was still feeling good so I kicked it up another notch.

When we reached I90, the course went up a steep, but short, hill and into the express lanes.  Here is the first place where the half and the full marathon split.  They sent the full marathoners across to Mercer Island and back, while us halfers went straight through the tunnel towards Seattle.  Immediately when you entered the tunnel it was noisy (as you’d expect from a tunnel) but more so that normal.   I’d mentioned before that for most of the bands I could only hear them for about 10-15 seconds as I ran by.  Well, for the band that was located in the I90 express lane tunnel… yeah, you heard that right, IN the tunnel… I could hear them for a looong time (and wished that I couldn’t).  The sound was bad… really bad… and you could see on the band members faces that they knew it.  I felt a little bad for them.   Whether it was motivation to get out of the tunnel, or the fact that I was still feeling good, but I kicked it up another notch!

The course exited the tunnel and took us into downtown Seattle.  At one point Qwest Field (the finish if you’ve been skimming) was visible and I heard someone gasp, “I can see it, it’s not that far!”   That guy either hadn’t been watching the mile markers go by or thought that 5k “wasn’t that far”.  Instead of heading straight towards the finish, we turned right and ran into downtown Seattle.  This is where I really felt like this was the real deal.  Tons of people standing around cheering, signs waving, good atmosphere!

We did a small loop through downtown and headed back toward the finish via the Viaduct.  Not exactly scenic, but I don’t think anyone was looking at the scenery at that point.  What was weird was that I STILL FELT GOOD!  I did my last speed adjustment and it carried me all the way to the finish.  Near the end I saw that same woman I’d seen crying on the side of the road.  She was still crying and I was still empathizing… Hold it together Gravano… hold it together!! 

I crossed the line in 1:54:36; more than 5 mins faster than my goal time and ironically (or is it coincidentally) more closely matched the time the lady at the corral change table tried to give me… psychic?  You be the judge

After I crossed the line, they handed me my finishers medal and a bottle of water.  Further down there was fruit, Cytomax (the drink sponsor of the race) and assorted other goodies.  I went down to the gear check area and retrieved my stuff and then slowly headed back to my car.  I had an amazing feeling of accomplishment, and a bit of let down.  Since I felt so good at the end, I immediately started to wonder if perhaps I should try a full marathon sometime.  Stay tuned

The Tour de Blast is a ride from Toutle, WA up to the Johnson Ridge Viewpoint (Mt. St. Helens).  This was another ride that I signed up to do with MartinC and Shelly and I had been so looking forward to it!  Martin had warned me before hand that it could be spectacular, or craptacular depending on the weather.  Unfortunately the weather turned out to be the latter, but more on that later. 

Martin mentioned that we should carpool, so I arranged to meet them at a parking lot just off the freeway (easy on, easy off!).  After swapping the bike from my car to theirs, we were off.  It was about 2 hours from that point until we arrived in Toutle, broke out the bikes, changed clothes and headed out. 

From my perspective, we certainly seemed to be underdressed.  Everyone else seemed to be in long tights, jackets or in long sleeve jerseys.  Martin, Shelly and I were in short sleeves (with arm warmers at least) and shorts.  I also carried my light windbreaker (I think Martin did also) but that’s about it.  It was chillier than I’d hoped but I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable at this point and got more comfortable once we got on the road.

The route starts off with some easy rollers that take you up to the first rest stop.  We pulled in the stop, had a quick snack and set back out on the road.  This begins the long first climb of the day.  It’s a long climb at 10ish miles and 2500 ft elevation gain (give or take).  Early in the climb I felt really good… my legs felt okay and my breathing/heart rate were good.  As we climbed on, though, I began to feel the activities I’d done earlier  in the week (10.7 mile run and a long evening hike with Martin and the Thursday Night Afterburners) began to rear their ugly heads.  My legs fatigued  and my right knee began to ache.  We made it to the rest stop at the top of that climb and I had a decision to make… go on and suffer or turn back.  Now, typically when I’m faced with the “macho” decision vs. the “smart” decision I usually go with the “macho” option (duh!).  On this occasion for some reason, perhaps it was the 1/2 marathon looming the next weekend, I made the “smart” decision and headed back.  Could I have made it to the end… I think so.  Would I have been in good shape afterwards… probably not.  Though it was foggy, I could still see how the view from there would be amazing!

At this point, I’m cold… I mean really cold.  It’s so cold that the race organizers actually brought out a fire pit and started a camp fire!  Martin and Shelly gave my the van key and continued on, and I decided to spend some time warming my body by the fire.  After 10-15 mins of dodging smoke and feeling about as warm as I was going to get, I put on my windbreaker and headed back down the mountain.  Did I say I was cold before?  On the decent down, with the wind whipping by and since I wasn’t really exerting any effort, I got even colder!  Luckily it only lasted 15 mins or so until I got to a lower elevation, but I kept my jacket on just the same.

When I made it back to the van, I laid down in the back and started stretching out my  hamstrings. I was so comfortable that I just decided to stay there on my back   It was this position that Martin and Shelly found me about 30 mins later.  It seems that between the cold, foggy weather and a flat tire that they’d decided to turn around and call it a day as well.

We put more cloths on and went to have some pasta in the school cafeteria (why do all  cafeterias looks the same?).  As cold as I had been earlier, I couldn’t turn down the ice cream they were offering for desert

Though not my strongest (or proudest) day, I had a good time and looking forward to trying it again next year.  Here’s hoping for some better weather! 

More Photos

When I was planning out all the running/cycling events that I was going to do this year, the Flying Wheels ride wasn’t even on my list.  The only thing I knew about it was that many people used it to gauge their fitness prior to attempting the STP Ride (Seattle to Portland).  Since I’d been feeling pretty good on the bike, I began to entertain the idea of trying STP myself.  Although that idea later fizzled out when I couldn’t find anyone who was available to ride with me (I’d rather ride with friends),  I began looking into the Flying Wheels ride and it sounded like a lot of fun.  MartinC told me that he and Shelly would be willing to do it as well, so it was on!

I’ll admit that I was a bit worried about doing this ride.  First, MartinC is a very strong rider and I’ve only been seriously riding since February.  On top of that, I kept thinking that I needed to focus instead on running since my 1/2 Marathon was only a few weeks away.  Another part of my brain told the worried part to shut it’s pie hole and didn’t worry about it anymore.

I started the day with what has since become a tradition for "endurance" event days… a stack of pancakes.  Oh yeah… that’s right… Pancakes.  Light on the butter, heavy on the (real maple) syrup!

The ride began at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA.   I had no idea this ride was so popular… in fact on my drive out there I wasn’t able to get in the lane to exit the freeway because there were so many people lined up!  That actually worked out in my favor as the next exit also allows access to the park, but had far less traffic.

As luck would have it, I arrived only minutes after Team Criminale and was parked about 10 spots away.  We prepped our stuff, I was given a quick lesson on cycling numbers (they go on the back stupid… shesh!), and we were off.

Now, the course was *mostly* flat but had some rather difficult (at least for me) climbs… the first of which was only about 5 miles from the start.  After I made it up that first climb and, at least, hadn’t lost sight of the Criminale Tandem, I felt pretty good. 

We rolled through some absolutely beautiful countryside… I’m happy to put up with wet/gray weather so that I can have this kind of playground right in my backyard.  I was also struck by the number of, shall we say, less-than-in-shape folks riding.  It’s difficult to climb on a bicycle, even more so when you’re carrying around extra pounds (trust me, I know!)  I have serious respect for those folks who are facing that challenge and prevailing!

When I say rolling through the countryside, I mean blazing!  I’d been drafting behind Martin and Shelly the whole way and thank goodness for that… I’m not sure I could have kept that pace without it. 

The last climb of the day was one that I’d done before on a ride out to Snoqualmie Falls.  I was really glad to have had that experience as it gave me a reference point to see how I was coming along with my fitness.  I’m pleased to say that, while it was still a challenge, it felt easier than the previous time.  Hurray for progress!

What a great time… I’ve decided that I absolutely love riding with Martin and Shelly.  Good folks, good conversations, good times!  Thanks guys!

Pictures (and video) – Courtesy of Criminale.com

A year ago a co-worker and friend, MartinC, told me about an event that he and his wife participated in called the Urban Assault Ride.  After listening to a tale of cycling, big wheels and beer I knew that I just had to give this thing a go.

Fast forward to 2009, when the schedule for this years UAR was released I was bummed… I had already committed to a charity run the same day that the UAR would be held in Seattle.  My relief came (nearly) instantly when I saw that Portland, OR was on the schedule for a couple weeks after Seattle!  Next up was to find a partner.  After a short search, I convinced a friend (TajmonN) of the fun we’d have and hooked him!

The race is made up of check points located throughout the host city.   The goal is to ride your bike to each of the checkpoints, perform some challenge at said checkpoint, and collect a bead to signify that you’ve completed that challenge.  Additionally, there’s a optional pre-quiz you can take that determines your start position.  Taj and I rocked that thing so we’d be in the first group out.

For the Portland race, there were seven checkpoints.  Five were listed beforehand, a clue for another was given the week of the race, and the last mystery checkpoint was only revealed at the first mystery checkpoint.  So if you don’t figure out the first checkpoint from the clue provided, you’re going to have a tough time finishing the race.  We felt pretty confident that we’d figured out the first mystery checkpoint and plotted a course through the city that we thought would be the most efficient.  Taj had all the maps printed out we were ready! 

The week prior to the race issued me a slight setback… I got a chest cold.  Yay!  While I felt pretty good the Friday before, I had a nagging cough until about 4 days after the race.  Oh well…

We began early Sunday morning (5/31) at Taj’s house.  He lives 5 miles or so from the start of the race, so we figured we just ride down from there.  Just as we arrived at Pioneer Courthouse Square (the start) I got a FLAT!!  We had 15 minutes until the start, so my own person race was on… to replace my tube in 15 minutes or less.  Fortunately, I’d had some practice a week earlier (why do these things always come in bunches?) and it only took about 7 minutes to get it swapped out.   Now that had already worked up a nice sweat, we were instructed to setup our bikes about 100 yards from the start line and that we’d have a Le Mans mass start (where you start our running to your bike instead of on it).   At the sound of the horn, we were off!

Our first checkpoint was Fat Tire Farm in NW Portland.  Once we got there it was revealed that we need to run a miniature bicycle around a series of cones (about 100 yards) and then back to the official for our bead (starting to sound like Marti Gras!!).  Those little bikes were a blast!

Our next stop was the first mystery checkpoint, which we had correctly guessed was Whole Foods Market in NE Portland.  There we were treated to fruit and water while we figured our an anagram that revealed the next mystery checkpoint… Bike Gallery Downtown!  Unfortunately that meant we’d have to do a little back tracking at the end, but it would be too far. 

From Whole Foods, we proceeded to the next checkpoint on our route, Laurelhurst Park.  When we arrived it was immediately obvious that we’d be doing a three legged race.  Less obvious, though, was the little additional challenge they added to the event.  Your “third leg” was a set of huge shoes tied together with a Frisbee full of tennis balls on top.  You had to keep the tennis balls in the Frisbee while you walked an “out and back” course.  At this point Taj was complaining that one half of the third leg was too short :-p

After successfully completing the three legged event, we raced on to the next checkpoint, Sunnyside School Park.  Here the challenge was for both members of the team to sit on a long-board style skateboard and propel ourselves, using only a toilet plunger, through a course where we’d pick up three different colored cans our of buckets.  We couldn’t use our hands or feet to move through the course or they sent you back to the beginning.  Now, I though we each got a plunger so I grabbed one asked Taj if he was ready (”yup” he replied) and began to churn away.  As you can tell from the photo Taj did NOT have a plunger (we were only allowed one) but at this point I had no idea, though I did feel like it was hard than it should have been with two people pushing us along   We finally made our way through, picked up the cans and returned to the start… it was only then I realized I’d been the only one pulling us along.  At least that made me feel a little better!

Next on our agenda was Plan B Bar.  Here we faced with the simplest of the challenges, and the one I had the most problem with!!!  It was basic ring toss style challenge where we were to toss some rings over 4 beer bottles.  It was only about 5 feet away, but for some reason it took me a full minute longer than Taj… boo!  I was never so happy to be done, I felt like an idiot.  Isn’t this the sort of thing you’re supposed to master during childhood?!?

Leaving that humiliation behind, we had a quick jaunt over to River City Bicycles.  Here we were told to strap a container to our helmets, fill it with water and then ride our bikes around a course without spilling it (or at least so that it didn’t drop below a certain line).  Neither Taj or I could get the thing on over our helmet so we were allowed to remove them and just go without (UAR has a very strict helmet rule, but I guess they didn’t realize a couple dudes with HUGE craniums would compete )  At this point in the morning we’d ridden all over Portland, and it was pretty warm, so when we successfully finished the challenge I dumped the container of water on my head… what a relief!

Now all that remained was a trip to the second mystery checkpoint and then on to the finish.  The second mystery checkpoint had no challenge (I guess the challenge was to  find it!) so we just got our bead and headed for the finish. 

Before we could check into the finish table there were two obstacles remaining.   First up was the big wheel race course.  That’s right… BIG WHEELS!  I hadn’t ridden a big wheel since I was a little kid… what a blast.  Other than the fact that they were larger than normal, these big wheels also had no brakes.  That fact escaped me and I launched out of the gate at full speed.  At the first turn I tried to slow down but, sans break, that proved difficult.  After a 720 degree spinout (awesome!) I came to a stop against the brick steps in Pioneer Courthouse Square… shook it off and finished the race (if a bit slower).   The final bit of fun before we could check in was to remove our shoes then proceed to run/dive through a giant inflatable slip and slide! 

After checking in, we were ushered to a roped off area for competitors.  We were fed and watered (ok.. it was beer and not water) while other folks participated in a mini-bike limbo.  I wish I had snapped a picture or two of that… that was hilarious!

Taj and I finished 12th in the Men’s Division, but more importantly had a GREAT time.  I can certainly recommend it and look forward to participating next year!