After an easy drive up to the mountains Friday evening, Bryce and I woke up Saturday morning and rode out to the Meadow Mountain trailhead for a casual 3hr mountain bike ride. It was a ride Bryce used to do all the time when he lived up there so it was fun to check it out. Once we got back to the house, we quickly showered and hit the road towards Grand Junction. Sunday was another RMEC dirt bike race that was supposed to have awesome high country trail!
After stopping at the local grocery and grabbing a large pizza from Little Ceasars, we drove the last hour up the gnarliest dirt road to the race site and campground. We got registered, mingled with everyone around then had our pizza for dinner. Our usual crew was there as well so we had a great fire pit chat to sum up the night. We slept in the back of the van on sleeping pads and in sleeping bags which was actually quite pleasant. Bryce made me coffee on a camping stove in the morning while I was in charge of peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast!
9am came a lot quicker than we thought and before we knew it the race was about to go off. As always, Bryce started at 9:19 and I went at 9:40. The first 8 miles was a transfer section and a combo of dirt roads and really technical and fun terrain with some serious drops. The first test was 3 miles with lots of roots and steep rocky climbs. Everything was going great until some guy behind me ghostied his bike on top of me and pinned me against the side of the trail. I was totally fine but in a super awkward position and losing a lot of time. Since there were tons of racers behind us, we had to wait until they went by to get the bikes untangled and back on the trail. When I saw the guy at the next stop, he was super apologetic :) The second test was 6 miles of really open and dusty trail that was more dangerous than fun (in my opinion). However, I did make it out crash free and headed to gas then to the third test. About a mile into that test, I came upon a young rider who didn't make it up a rock ledge and was stuck under his bike screaming. The guy in front of me was already to the rescue but it was apparent that the fallen rider was really hurt. I dropped my bike, fought the oncoming race traffic and ran to the start of the test for help. My hip was absolutely killing me but at this point, it didn't matter. I found some course workers who immediately got the EMT's on the radio and we headed back into the woods to help the 13 year old who crashed. After being evaluated, we ended up carrying him out on a backboard. My race was obviously over at this point but I knew I had done the right thing. I heard the last 2 tests were super fun but I'm glad I was able to help and there's always next year.
Bryce, on the other hand, had a great race finishing 3rd in the Pro class. There were a lot of local guys there that ride those trails day in and day out so he didn't finish quite as high as he would have liked in the overall. After a long trip down the mountain, we made our way back to Edwards where Bryce's Mom had prepared us a delicious dinner to go. We thought it would be a good idea to just eat there but as expected, once we got out of the van, there was no way we were getting back in it to make the 2hr trek home. We crashed in the mountains and woke up early Monday morning to get back to Boulder where Bryce immediately turned around to drive to Denver to be to work by 9am! Just another fun and typical weekend for us :)
After stopping at the local grocery and grabbing a large pizza from Little Ceasars, we drove the last hour up the gnarliest dirt road to the race site and campground. We got registered, mingled with everyone around then had our pizza for dinner. Our usual crew was there as well so we had a great fire pit chat to sum up the night. We slept in the back of the van on sleeping pads and in sleeping bags which was actually quite pleasant. Bryce made me coffee on a camping stove in the morning while I was in charge of peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast!
9am came a lot quicker than we thought and before we knew it the race was about to go off. As always, Bryce started at 9:19 and I went at 9:40. The first 8 miles was a transfer section and a combo of dirt roads and really technical and fun terrain with some serious drops. The first test was 3 miles with lots of roots and steep rocky climbs. Everything was going great until some guy behind me ghostied his bike on top of me and pinned me against the side of the trail. I was totally fine but in a super awkward position and losing a lot of time. Since there were tons of racers behind us, we had to wait until they went by to get the bikes untangled and back on the trail. When I saw the guy at the next stop, he was super apologetic :) The second test was 6 miles of really open and dusty trail that was more dangerous than fun (in my opinion). However, I did make it out crash free and headed to gas then to the third test. About a mile into that test, I came upon a young rider who didn't make it up a rock ledge and was stuck under his bike screaming. The guy in front of me was already to the rescue but it was apparent that the fallen rider was really hurt. I dropped my bike, fought the oncoming race traffic and ran to the start of the test for help. My hip was absolutely killing me but at this point, it didn't matter. I found some course workers who immediately got the EMT's on the radio and we headed back into the woods to help the 13 year old who crashed. After being evaluated, we ended up carrying him out on a backboard. My race was obviously over at this point but I knew I had done the right thing. I heard the last 2 tests were super fun but I'm glad I was able to help and there's always next year.
Bryce, on the other hand, had a great race finishing 3rd in the Pro class. There were a lot of local guys there that ride those trails day in and day out so he didn't finish quite as high as he would have liked in the overall. After a long trip down the mountain, we made our way back to Edwards where Bryce's Mom had prepared us a delicious dinner to go. We thought it would be a good idea to just eat there but as expected, once we got out of the van, there was no way we were getting back in it to make the 2hr trek home. We crashed in the mountains and woke up early Monday morning to get back to Boulder where Bryce immediately turned around to drive to Denver to be to work by 9am! Just another fun and typical weekend for us :)
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