The Burn

A mountain bike tt? What's up with that? We had 4 riders race Saturday's "The Burn" tt. Kay lead the team with a 3rd in the SS category. Gary Thacker races some of the younger guys & finished 13th in the 35+ field. Two new team members, Dennis & Davis Haberkorn finished 12th & 9th in their first MTB races for the team - they are recent roadie converts.

Here is what Kay had to say about the ride:

• Some mountain bike racers that I know (they shall remain nameless...) pooh-poohed the mountain bike time trial thing and the Buffalo Creek course in particular. I heard "isn't that race a time trial? Isn't it all uphill?" I want to report that the course was really great - 3 climbs and 3 fast descents. The first 4 miles from the start took us down a sketchy 4WD road similar to the downhill on Powerline at the Leadville 100 in terms of the number of bike-eating ditches and trenches. Slick was an apt description for our little descent. Light on the brakes were in order especially since we had two-way traffic. We were then given the pleasure of climbing Gashouse and descending Sandy Wash - 2 very nice pieces of Colorado singletrack. Next up was a climb up Shinglemill followed by the descent down Morrison Creek - 2 more lovely pieces of singletrack. The course ended with a climb back up the ditch-filled road. One nice thing about riding a time trail is not getting crowded and knocked around, although that is fun too. I love to find a really hard pace that is sustainable, right at my max complete with legs crying and lungs gasping. Once in that groove, I devour riders one by one. My conclusion: I love Buffalo Creek and so does my singlespeed! The race was well organized and we got to enjoy burritos and beers afterwards. A worthy race indeed.
• -kay

Kay at "The Burn"