Chequamegon and more!

Hello everyone! This past weekend Brooks and I went to Hayward, WI for the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 mile mtb race. What a fun, crazy race. It was my first time doing it. The race is HUGE...they hold a lottery each year for all the people that register, and they pick out 1700 racers to race the 40 mile event.

First off, I would like to thank Brooks for driving me down there, providing excellent pit support, and for taking pics (which might be posted here or on his blog). We left at midnight, got to the race start at 5am, put my bike on the start line to 'reserve' the spot, took a 2 hour nap in the car, laughed at some other race participants, and then got ready for the race start at 10am.

I had 3 goals entering the event:
1. Finish within 30 minutes of the winner.
2. Finish in under 2 hours, 45 minutes.
3. Finish in the top 250 racers.

Here is what 1700 racers look like on the parade start through town:
There were a couple nice crashes at the start once the race officially started...how could there not be with all those racers? I had a good start position since we got there so early, so I managed to avoid all the crashes and bottlenecks once the race ventured off-road. I felt good for the first 25 or so miles, but around there I started to feel my right leg wanting to cramp, so I eased off a bit. But all in all, I felt good. Very dusty, but good. Here is the only pic (from skinnyski.com) that I could find of myself during the race:
In the end, I managed to meet all 3 of my goals, as I finished in 154th place in a time of 2:35. The winner was pro racer Jeremy Horgan Kobelski, and I finished 28 min behind him. I think a reasonable goal for next year (if I get in again) would be top 100, as I was only 5 minutes outside of that. Anyone else game for next year? Brooks has expressed interest. Vino, Trent, Sears, Greg...?

More random news and events:
-- A big congrats goes out to Greg and Josey, who tied the knot this past weekend!
-- Also congrats to Scotty and Kayla, who announced their engagement!
-- I heard a rumor (from a reliable source) that Brandon Van Leuven and his wife Gillian will be moving to Minneapolis from SoCal in a few months! Crazy.
-- Only a 3 day work week coming up, as Heather and I take off for Port Huron, MI for her friend Heather's wedding.
-- Brooks and I are going to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert on Wed!