Rio Stampede
Well, the 12 hour race at Steamboat is complete, with 4 hours knocked off the end due to VERY inclement weather. The day started out great, and the sun came out, making it necessary to seek shade and sunscreen. I kept checking the forecast, and the chance of rain actually decreased! Seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day. The sure sign that things were to go downhill? They had all the riders’ pits set up on loose dirt. No grass, just dirt.
Here’s Matt doing the Le Mans start:
And Matt still running:
And Matt heading out on his bike. Thanks to Carrie for the pics!!
Matt was riding well, and as I sent him off on what was to be his 6th lap, the storm hit. Hail and rain with high winds made for flying EZ-Ups everywhere. Luckily I was able to hold onto a leg along with Matt (Cat’s other half) and another man who had been crewing next to me for his son. It took 3 of us to keep a staked down EZ-Up from taking flight. Good grief!
Despite the race being called off early, I must say that this was a nicely run event. It’s got that “grass roots” feel to it. Just the right amount of entrants…from my perspective. There were lots of categories and options as well. Both a 6-hour and 12-hour event were offered, and both offered multiple options, including teams. Only problem? Not enough singlespeeders, so they had to compete in geared classes. That was the only bummer.
RESULTS ARE UP
A big shout out to our awesome BWR sponsors. High Desert Bicycles has been keeping Matt well clothed with a very nice Specialized, red brain bucket, great gloves, awesome shades, and other necessary items that keep a rider prepared on the bike. The Sock Guy socks kept the feet nicely dry…until the rain hit. The Ergon grips have been treating the hands well, and now the bright Ergon green is again it’s bright new green hue thanks to all the rain that washed all the grime off. King Cage did a superb job of keeping the waterbottles in place for the 2000+ vertical climbing involved with every 11 mile lap. Finally, the Nuun provided just the right amount of electrolytes to keep the cramps at bay. Without our great sponsors, racing wouldn’t be quite the same. Thanks to you all for your support!