24 hours of Moab

I have heard from so many people that Moab is not all it's hyped up to be, but the 15 mile loop that our team rode 18 times (for a total of 268 miles and 24,480 ft of elevation gain) was the best set of trails I have ever ridden. Which brings me to my point. I can't wait to do it again!!

Mike, Ray, Matt and Myself had a blast this past weekend in Moab Utah where we competed in 24 Hour National Championship final event. The trails were amazing, the views were spectacular, the fires, music, beer was aplenty and we rode our bikes to near exhaustion until the final countdown. I started the race off with the 1/4 mile sprint "around the bush" and back to our bikes and took off with some of the top Pro's in the country. I held on with the top 50 pack for the first 3 miles about, until we got to top of the climb and it flattens out. That was where the top 20 or so continued to maintain their effort while the rest of us felt like resting after a 1 mile hill climb. Anyway, there is a ton more I could say or write about, but I think pictures work better.

Above: Adam taking off after the Laman's start. I'm about 10 back.

Below: Adam finishing lap 1

Above: Ray relaxing next to command central (the only rig with the Wyoming flag on it).

Below: Photography skills at work.

Above: Ray coming into the gates after his first lap.

Below: Matt finishing his first lap.

Above: The handoff between Matt and Mike. First you had to hand the baton to the judge, then swipe your card on a scanner...... then the next rider has to swipe his card, say their name to the judge and then grab the baton from them. The best way to hold the baton was to stick it in the leg of our shorts. We saw some of them out on the trail, which probably jumped out of some peoples back pockets.

Below: Mike on his bike and leaving the staging area to start his first lap.

Above: Ray finishing up a lap at night.

Below: Matt taking off for his first night lap.

Below: Ray eating some oranges after a lap.

Our team held on to 5th place during the first 20 hours of the race (in the Mens Expert category) and despite each of us putting together some smoking fast lap times (for our last laps even), two other teams pulled ahead of us in the end (we thought they may have brought in some ringers.. JK). Placing 7th out of 13 in the Mens Expert Category was pretty cool and I was really impressed with how well the team worked together.