12 Hours of Mesa Verde

How about this cool custom award. Neat.

The Geezer podium.

The exchange area was inside the fair grounds exhibition hall.

The theme in 2010 was "Pirates." Ryan Miller with Cutthroat Racing was in full gear. Those guys know how to party.

This may have been my 1st lap exchange. This is the only race photo.

Dwight's gash! He rode for over an hour like this. DH, you da MAN!

We just had to look at it when we got back to SLC. I sure hope it heals well cuz it sure looks sore.

The sponsoring bike shop. These guys were real friendly and they closed down the business on race day to support their employees and us racers. You guys rock.

Breakfast Sunday morning was most excellent. I got the Denver Omelet and was not disappointed. I'll definitely hit this place again in 2011.

When in Moab, you gotta stop at Paradox Pizza on the south end of town. Susan and Fred know how to make the manna of life an eating experience.

Just a short post for now and a few pics from the most fabulous race course I've ever ridden - Phil's World in Cortex, Colorado. It was 16.4 miles long and had about 1150 feet of climbing per lap, a millions turns per lap, 2 incredible roller coaster sections that were better than any amusement park ride I've ever been on, technical sections that were nail biting and single track that flowed like a river. I don't have the words to describe how fun this course is. Just go ride it for yourself and experience the ride of you life.

Dwight Hibdon and I teamed up in the Duo Geezer Category, 50 years and up, and came in 2nd place out of 6 strong teams. Race results are here. We got thumped by a couple of youngsters from Colorado. Our goal was 8 laps and we accomplished that. The 2nd place finish was the cherry. Our strategy, if you can call it that was for me to ride the laps 1 through 3, Dwight would ride 4 through 7 and I would finish up the 8th and final one. I rode the 1st 3 pretty steady and Dwight put down 3 strong middle laps and narrowed the gap with this 1st place team. Unfortunately, on his 3rd lap he hit a tree with his right bicep and rode 12 miles with a gaping hole in his arm! Unbelievably, he still put down a really fast time that kept us in 2nd place. I went out for lap 7 thinking it was only lap 6 and I was a little bummed. Then a light went on that I was really on 7 and we had a slight chance to get in 8. I picked up the pace and got to the exchange tent 7 minutes before the cut off and headed out for lap 8. It wasn't a pretty lap and I was one of the last to cross the finish line, but we and the 1st place guys were the only 2 with 8 laps. Nice! Way to go DH for the strong laps you threw down. Without those we would not have made it.

Now for the silly facts for all you anal types, like me:

Lap 1, 1:34:00 (I missed the 1st 7 minutes cuz I forgot to push start), 151 bpm (83%) average, 10.5 mph avg.
Lap 2, 1:38:27, 144 bpm (80%), 10.1 mph.
Lap 3, 1:38:09, 142 bpm (78%), 10.1 mph.
Lap 4, 1:37:05, 132 bpm (73%), 10.2 mph.
Lap 5, 1:50:26, 120 bpm (66%), 9.0 mph. I was fading fast - hahahaha.

Enjoy the pics and I'll try and update later.