Lots of guys showing up today at Dennis’. A couple more from Kansas, Kent and Katie Eriksen showed up yesterday. Plus, a few others. Kind of chaotic right now. Everyone is heading out to ride now. Cool and damp here. Not even 50. Gonna be cold tomorrow morning. Below is the new route. They took the section of the Birkie Trail from Phipps to OO out. That should be interesting. That was a hard section. Okay, I’ve got a ton of stuff to do today.

Revised course map.

Kent Eriksen working on the tandem that he and Katie are racing. They won Leadville on it.

5 Kent Eriksen road bikes. You don’t see that very often.

My pieced together bike. It is rigid and weights about 18 pounds. Nothing special about it other than the frame.

Kent brought this along. Last two times I’ve tried beet juice I’ve been incapacitated for 2 days.

It’s early and cold, somewhere in the 30’s. It is not supposed to really get all that warm. That is my biggest worry today, trying to stay warm before and after the race. The race will take care of itself. I’m not too worried today. I can’t stay with the leaders, which is my biggest disappointment with this whole injury deal. I hate to miss the fireworks towards the end of the race, even if I’m just one of the guys getting ejected. I’m always curious to actually see what the key move is to the win. I’m not going to be horrible, I’ll be fine. This is my first race back after breaking my hip just 13 weeks ago, so I am actually mildly thrilled I can even be here.

The race is just under 40 miles and takes just a tad over two hours, which is screaming fast for a MTB race. It will be faster this year because of more logging roads.

I’m picking Brian Matter and Gina Rinehart as the men and women’s winner. I’d like to pick Michael Olheiser to win the men’s race, but just think that Brian always has another gear once we hit Telemark property. Outsider, not really, but recently, Jeff Hall is my pick to fill the men’s podium.

Okay, have to go throw more warm clothes in my finish bag. It is so easy freezing after this race.

Everything is ready at the finish for 3500 MTB racers.

Registration line. It moves faster than you could imagine.

You don’t want to have to deal with this guy.

The Eriksen’s and Eppen’s, mixed tandem teams. I think the Eppens are going to be in the front mix somewhere before OO. I think it will change up the race a bunch.

Our pre-race feast last night, courtesy of Katie and Company.