I headed off to this race in the fine company of Nat and Rebecka. They’re the first couple of cycling in Laramie. Pine Bluffs is about as easy a road trip as you could ask for – 100 miles or so of interstate. We buzzed on over and got to the booming metropolis of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming in good time. The bluffs overlooking the town and the interstate seemed to be in good shape -- the trails were just a wee bit damp from the daily afternoon thundersorms, and hence had better than normal traction.

This was basically a circuit race – they claimed about a 6 mile loop, but it wasn’t much over 5. Hence, my three lap race wasn’t 18 miles but rather about 15 miles. The course is a fast downhill start on a two track which immediately dumps onto a twisty single track. I took off fast because no one else was and because of my experience of being stuck in the back at the Ironhorse race. I entered the single track in second and soon moved to first when the leader rolled into a bush. I tried to ride smooth and not worry about those following. When we exited onto the single track two people surged around but I passed one on the steep uphill without really trying. The next sharp downhill saw two more go by, but I was pleased with how I bounced down it – a little fearful but in control. We proceeded on to some flat two track and I powered up behind the leader and sat in for a few minutes. Perhaps it was foolish, but I took the lead at this point when the leader slowed a bit. We came to the one largely unrideable section and the lead group of four or five scrambled down it with me still in the lead. There was then a gentle climb up the bottom of a gully – that felt so good and I was purposely taking it easy, not wanting to leave my comfort zone, but I was still in the lead. We then banged through some more up and down single track with a few people pushing me, but not passing. One more flat two-track section was taken with me in the lead, but as we came to a rough downhill section, a rider passed me and gapped me a bit on the downhill. I caught him again on the steep hill – I only rode half of it, but that was one-half more than most. The next two laps I rode it both times and made a lot of time on the folks in my race. At the top of the hill I took the lead again and put most of the field out of sight on the rolling climb to the start finish line. I still felt good and kept pounding away, still within my comfort zone. Ah well, it was too much to ask that I avoid catastrophe, hence I flatted. I changed tubes as fast as possible (I used a CO2 cartridge), but still lost about 8 places. Gary stopped and chatted with me for a few minutes before moving on. As soon as I had things reassembled and ready to roll I set off in pursuit of whoever I could catch. I figure I lost at least 5 minutes there, but I found it hard to get to upset as I had been riding so well -- I lack the killer instinct I guess. I caught three people from the "18 mile" group over the next one and a half laps. I finished strong and felt good, and only slightly disappointed. I’m quite confident that I would have kept the lead for the rest of the race if I hadn’t flatted. I think I ended up 5^th overall for the whole "18-mile" set and 2^nd in the over 35 age group. The results were all messed up as some riders cut the course – I don’t believe it was intentional and most quickly admitted it. The one fellow they had in first overall, but had clearly not been riding with the top group was less than gracious about it. He had to have known that something was funny because he was dropped by at least the first 5 of us on the first hill. He was riding this dog of a full suspension Cannondale – he might actually have been a strong rider but you could just see that bike suck the speed out of him on that first hill – it was like it was wallowing in the mud, but there was none. Anyway, I ended up with a $20 gift certificate to the Bicycle Station in Cheyenne (it should have been $30, but as messed up as the results were, it was a good thing that I got something. Gary was actually 3^rd in the over 35 race, but he was shafted out of anything).

Nat ended up just out of the money in 4^th place, riding a single speed. I caught a dropped rider from the "27-mile" race who was pushing such a big gear up the hills that I initially thought he was on a single speed. For someone so spent, he should have made some effort to downshift. Becka ended up getting second in the Open Women’s race, so she got to pick out some good stuff at the bike shop too. All in all, it was a good day for rider’s from Laramie. In the "18-mile" and "27-mile" races they took first in all divisions – well, except mine (but I flatted!). I hope to make it back next year – it’s a fun course and despite some questionable course markings and some timing problems the folks at Pine Bluffs do a good job. And they have a prize list that puts most other races (say the Ironhorse for instance) to shame.

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