Well, the 12 hour race at Steamboat is complete, with 4 hours knocked off the end due to VERY inclement weather. The day started out great, and the sun came out, making it necessary to seek shade and sunscreen. I kept checking the forecast, and the chance of rain actually decreased! Seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day. The sure sign that things were to go downhill? They had all the riders’ pits set up on loose dirt. No grass, just dirt.
Here’s Matt doing the Le Mans start:
And Matt still running:
And Matt heading out on his bike. Thanks to Carrie for the pics!!
Matt was riding well, and as I sent him off on what was to be his 6th lap, the storm hit. Hail and rain with high winds made for flying EZ-Ups everywhere. Luckily I was able to hold onto a leg along with Matt (Cat’s other half) and another man who had been crewing next to me for his son. It took 3 of us to keep a staked down EZ-Up from taking flight. Good grief!
Despite the race being called off early, I must say that this was a nicely run event. It’s got that “grass roots” feel to it. Just the right amount of entrants…from my perspective. There were lots of categories and options as well. Both a 6-hour and 12-hour event were offered, and both offered multiple options, including teams. Only problem? Not enough singlespeeders, so they had to compete in geared classes. That was the only bummer.
RESULTS ARE UP
I saw Carrie and Ari at the event, which was nice. It had been a while since I’d seen them! Ari will be a freshman this year. Yikes! Time really flies fast.
On the way back from Steamboat, Matt and I stopped for a nice hike in Ironton. We found a nice loop on the Colorado Boy Trail and got to see numerous old mine shafts and remnants of the past. The highlight was getting to a bridge that was used to transport water through a wooden pipeline across a gorge.
We’ve seen the bridge from the road, so the goal was to get up to it, which we did! It was the perfect way to spend some time together and enjoy the weekend. 
Oh, the good pics of the hike are on Matt’s blog.
Thanks for crewing for me – had a great time with you this weekend!
Woohoo, great job Matt and Jeni! It was great seeing you guys, unexpectedly, at that!
Matt, we were talking to another racer (#13) after the race and he pulled over when the storm got really bad. He mentioned that he saw #1 (you), and you were just motoring right along, as if the storm wasn’t there. You are hard-core, man! Great job!
Carrie