Park City Perfect 10

Yesterday was the Park City Perfect 10.  It basically is a 10 hour race through some of the most beautiful single track anywhere.  I paired up with my buddy Joe Gardner and raced in the super competitive mens duo division.  We knew we had our work cut out for us when we heard who we would be up against, but we knew that if we raced hard and found a little luck, we might finish well.  We had no problem with the race hard part of the equation, but I suffered a flat tire on my 3rd lap that really slowed us down.  We went from like 6th place to 15th in one lap.  We managed to crawl our way back up to 8th place by the end of the race, which was nice.  Joe rode really well on his brand spankin' new Jeff Jones titanium steed.  By default (my geared bike suffered a crack and is being warranty'd) I had to ride my fully rigid single speed, so by the fourth lap or so, my back started flaring up something fierce.  I downed a bunch of ibuprofrens which helped take some of the edge off, but it nagged on throughout the race.  I'd like to say I would have done better on my geared bike, but who knows?

One thing this race showed me was just how many fast and talented mountain bikers this state has.  Brad Keyes continues to just blow my mind.  He took the mens solo division on his fully rigid single speed!  Wow!  This guy isn't human.  Mark Johanson and Racer Gibson did really well in the mens duo division as well.  Aaron Smith raced the mens solo as well and finished very strong.  I can't believe how much this guy is improving every race.  Watch out!  Overall, it was an awesome event.  Very painful, but awesome!