Failure - Our support team got sick and/or had scheduling conflicts.
Failure - Jeff injured his back in a cage match 3 days before the race. We were down to 3 riders.
Failure - Our "Goathead-for-a-day" competition failed to garner a 4th rider. We had several leads but they all fell through in the end. 3 riders would mean more laps and less down time.....
Success - Only taking three meant one vehicle and more room for Lowel's king-size "Select-Comfort" bed inside the tent.
Success - The weather forecast was stellar, with the exception of fog, but I'm sure fog won't affect things too much........
Failure - Jon gets called out by the race organizers in front of everyone at the pre-race meeting for being a Nagging-Nancy. Lowell and I actually consider this a success...... It was hilarious!
Failure - The race starts with a 50 yard sprint to bikes. We agree Jon should be our first rider since he's got the mental fortitude needed for cut-throat competition........... After the gun, Jon quickly gets bewildered by the flurry of activity. Forgetting where he put his bike, he starts zig-zagging through the crowd like a drunk sorority girl. After finding his bike, Jon attempts to mount and catch the field. Somehow, Jon misses the bike completely and crashes to the ground. He picks himself up and slowly throws his leg over and shakily rides off. The crowd lets out a patronizing cheer....... Team Goathead is in last place.
Success - After 2 full rotations of riders, Team Goathead is in the hunt and feeling good.
Failure - The fog rolls in. This is the thickest fog I have ever seen. Here's a picture of Lowell returning after a lap around midnight.
Not only did the fog make for some sketchy night-time riding, but it made everything wet, and I mean everything. There was no way to keep dry. The inside of the tent was as wet as the outside.
Success - Our game plan was to keep a rider out on the trail at all times. Some teams went out and threw down blazing fast lap times at the beginning, but faded as the night wore on. Our slow and steady method paid off.
Success - We turned a 24 hour mountain bike race into a 22 hour race. By 10 am, the leader-board made it clear that we couldn't catch the team ahead of us, and the team behind us couldn't catch us. Our fate was sealed. We sat back and let the sun dry us and our gear off.
Success - Team Goathead placed 3rd in our division, and 7th place overall. We left with some pretty nice swag.
On the way back home, we all agreed that next year we need to compete in the 4 man division. We just weren't sure who the 4th man would be. Jeff would be a good teammate, but he's too focused on cage fighting......... When I got home I realized who the obvious choice would be. He throws down lap after lap and never gets tired. Meet Broheim...
3 comments:
I will admit, had I been wearing Spandex shorts - I would not have crashed at the start.
if this would be on different weekend then Dakota 50 I would totally be in
Next year will be a tough decision for us. Dakota 5-0 or 7 Oaks. Both are awesome. I wish they weren't on the same weekend.
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