ah... photos from the 2008 Greenbrier Challenge

some fast clydesdale competition today at the greenbrier challenge
nine racers at the line
of the top three... any one of us could have finished first

I fought hard to be the fastest

there was some cat and mouse

I tried to race smart
I tried to race fast and in control

smart racing was on my mind
I felt that I could win if I rode and raced wisely
trying to go fast... but not get lost in trying to prove anything
seconds gained by getting wild can be minutes lost with a crash
or worse yet a crash causing a mechanical

late in lap two I suffered a front flat
at first I thought it was the front shock
either way I had to pull over and access the situation

sure enough... I had a flat
while trying to fix this flat I was passed by a number of racers
including two clydesdales

the quick release was missing a piece which caused the removal of the wheel to take longer than a flat repair should take
several minutes turned out to be a tad more than several minutes
a glance at the results may give an estimate repair time

eventually I was back on the bike and fighting to catch the two clydesdales who had passed me
the competition was good
the competition was also sporting
I caught them both
there was a bit more cat and mouse
but I was able to thrust ahead
fearing that they were both gaining fast
I had some fun on the last couple of downhills
not fast and foolish... a second flat without a second tube would have been for the fools

I came across the line and the annouce spoke over the loud speaker
JOEL GWADZ THE FASTEST OF THE BIG GUYS or something to that effect
I was happy the race was over
I was happy I had raced
I was happy how the race had gone

ah... photos photos from the Greenbrier Challenge
photos by mike

mike's seldomly updated blog

some good photos

not sure if mike raced today...

maybe mike raced marathon

maybe mike just drove up to watch the race

I did not see mike
I was too busy watching the trail in front of me

thanks to the folks at PVC for a SUPER EVENT!
things ran smoothly... late starts are part of mountain biking
the greenbrier challenge