This weekend had a couple epic races going on.  One was the Trans Iowa and the other is the Belgian Waffle Ride.  Completely different races, a long way apart, but the same vibe and awesomeness.

Yesterday, at the Trans Iowa, it was carnage.  There were torrential rains and only one rider, Greg Gleason, made it to the first check point within the time limit.  And by only 4 minutes.  He kept going, but didn’t make it to the finish line.  It was that bad.  But, I know there are some great life stories from yesterday.  That is what it is all about.

Today is the Belgian Waffle Ride north of San Diego.  Here’s a link to a Sport Illustrated article from a couple days ago.  The race is sponsored by Spy and has been growing by leaps and bounds.  I think there are something like 1100 riders doing it, but that number isn’t written in stone.   A number I do know is that it is 142 miles long and over 10000 feet of climbing.  Some of it on dirt.  Or mud this year.

It was raining pretty good yesterday and I think they might of already changed the course some because of sections unrideable.  It is lucky that the rain didn’t come in today, like it did in Iowa.

My team mate Brian Jensen, Dirty Kanza 200 winner last year, flew out to San DIego to do the race.  I think he is in pretty good shape.  He should do well, win, I’m not sure.  Kind of depends.  He is going to be racing with a bunch of riders that have done every section of dirt multiple times.

I’m sure he is going to have a bunch of life memories of the day.  That is what it is all about.

This photo was taken by Jason Boucher yesterday.  He shot in black and white.  To see a bunch of his photos from the event, click here to check them out.  Pretty epic day, for sure.

The start of the Belgian Waffle Ride this morning.

Brian and Michelle at the start.

Brian heading out for an all day affair.

Feed zone 3 hours in.