The 12 Hours of Mesa Verde was a blast this year. Temps were more reasonable than last year which kept the dehydration cramps at bay. The course was in great shape and there was a huge turnout. The last number I heard was approximately 250 riders!! The first lap was kind of a mess with so much traffic on the singletrack. The run and short road section did not seem to be near long enough to spread out the crowd. Unfortunately, I was more concerned with saving some energy for the long days ride ahead and did not get out front at the gun. This meant I followed a line of about 30 riders (or more) at a leisurely pace for the first 1/2 lap before finally working around and getting a chance to open it up a little. After the first lap everything spread out and traffic was only a minor issue.
All of the Ciclistas that participated were in the solo class so we didn't get much chance to see each other except for the occassional "refill" in the pit area. I can't speak for Steve or Scott, but I was again questioning the sanity of the whole thing by noon. Each lap became a harder test of the mental will to keep going. I almost quit at 2 laps, thought real serious about dropping out at 3 laps, don't really remember the 4th or 5th lap, and spent most of the 6th lap just trying to get to each of the next mile markers. There was a reasonable chance that I was going to make the 6:30 p.m. cutoff time to head out for lap 7 until my deraileur cable broke leaving me in a gear that forced me to walk all of the steeps. At least it waited until close to the end to break and still allowed me to ride the flats and downhill in a big gear. At the end, I told Cat (my fiancee) that I was done racing (which is what I say at the end of every endurance race that I have ever done), but by Sunday afternoon I was already bumming that I didn't get a chance to go for the 7th lap and plotting for next year.
Final results for the Ciclistas:
Steve Wayman (Solo Geezer Class) 5 laps in 10:16:51 ; 5th place (awesome job Steve)
Scott Clow (Solo Class) 5 laps in 11:40:39 ; 22nd place (congrats on reaching your goal Scott)
Jeff Fox (Solo Class) 6 laps in 11:42:50 ; 15th place
2013 Amy Dombroski Memorial Dolores Cross
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2012 Dolores CX Results
Any questions concerning the results, please email CiclistasdelRio@gmail.com
1 comment:
Thanks for the update Jeff and congratulations to all. When it comes to racing, whether it's enduros or crits, it's all just plain hard. Anybody interested in switching over to Sunday softball games in the Park? After all, Sunday beer sales are on the horizon.
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