JayP

What a classic event! Inexpensive, stocked aid stations, enough post race food and beer to satisfy an army, and an excellent mix of trails. Why not? I experinced this race solo a few years back with total satisfaction. This year with Tracey and I having loads of fun on our new toy the "Love Shack" (tandem) we figured this would be a fun way to be a part of the event considering we both are'nt feeling that sparky yet since the Tour Divide.

The ride from Jackson is'nt so bad, about 6 hours. We left Friday afternoon and drove through some crazy hail/rain storm that made us think what is happening out on the course.

Turns out after we picked up our race packet and headed up the road to the start area to camp that same storm caught up with us and it started pouring rain just after we had camp set up and continued into the night as we laid sort of a sleep. We chuckled at this since we become so use to riding/camping in the rain during the TD, figured it was just a year of racing in the rain and mud, which made it easily acceptable.

Woke up to blue skies and as figured tight buff trail, except for the numerous mud and water crossings. These ranged from ankle to knee deep, from pure water to stinky, sticky, sloppy mud!

Tandem class started with the second wave, 5 minutes back. We went out strong but conservative making time on the open roads and settling in on the singletracks. I don't usually experince this but it is motivational to be passing dozens of folks and then to catch up with some teamates always brings a smile.
Jillio feeling sillyo! Dave singing "it's gettin hot in here".

Throughout the race there are lots of challenging singletrack spots, rocks to be negotiated with care and moves to be made that can be tricky on a single bike. This is what makes riding a tandem for me so fun, the new challenges. I have to admit that there were many times I was in awe after clearing certain sections. Some with skill, some with luck and some with I can't belive we just did that.

Personally I felt great the whole time and was extremely happy with our ride and espically happy with the way the singletrack was handled. Tracey is a trooper and an excellent stoker. To have the trust in me and to be able to keep up with my energy can sometimes be overwhelming for her but she is always for it and never complains out of her heart, maybe a scream or an ouch here and there from the surprise bump or jump but nothing you can't blame somebody for who does'nt have control nor can see whats in front.

I admit we walked a little but probably no more then most everyone else. I am very proud of the ride we had and am a bit impressed with our first real singletrack challenges at race pace.

We finished the 70 miles with a time of 6:11. 1st tandem, 1:31 ahead of second. This time would have been 49th out of the ~400 overall starters.

Tandem - onium running wild...