Dark Horse 40 Rap Up
Pro photographer, Race car driver, Playboy
Luke
What can I say, if you were there you know what a great event this is. The Dark Horse Cycle guys have this race down, with such highlights as great food & beer, hose truck to clean up after and generous payouts. If your unsure about getting into racing thing this is an event that makes it all fun.
I raced the SS open catagory and got 8th out of 46 guys who finished. Klaxburger never showed up. He probably heard that I was racing and stayed home. Without him there I had no serious competition so I just took it easy and enjoyed the party.
Seriously... I felt kinda flat and was cramping at the end of the 1st lap. The next 20 miles was a struggle, I couldn't wait for this race to end. Fortunately I found my teammate Ilya and Vreeland to ride with for the 2nd half of lap 2. This was a big help, these guys provided motivation to bring it on home.
Yesterday race seemed like such an effort, Utah Joe made a comment on his blog that the Bearscat 50 was easier. I agree with this. I was in the zone for that race feeling no pain. Despite being out of the zone and feeling pain at the DH I'm happy with my finish and glad I stuck it out for the 2 laps.
Best Story of the Day
Almost through the 1st lap Mitch manages to loose the cleat bolts on his right shoe. He manages to pry the cleat out of the pedal and in his cambelbak he has spare cleat bolts which he reattaches his cleat to his shoe with. Who the f@*k carries spare cleat bolts!
So now what?
The DH40 is such a huge event that everyone prepares for and looks forward to, but when its over its like the day after Christmas...you kinda feel empty. The day after a race I always start plotting what I am going to do for the rest of the racing season. There is not much time left for mtb racing, once September rolls around everyone is doing cross races.
If you like the vibe of the 40 and want to do some enduro stuff in NJ, Mooch Madness is something worth check out. This will be the 2nd race my team is putting on this year. Like the Stewart 6-pack the goal is to have a good time. If you haven't made plans yet for the end of this month sign up and pencil this in so you can enjoy what is left of the mtb racing season.