PHOTO by Tom ROBERTSONThe family(K, and our 2 pups) and I are making the trip to race Rolling Thunder. This should be a great race. The enthusiasm of the MT racers is incredible. I am sure some super strong guys and gals will make the trip. Looks like a ton of local power and the national mountain bike star Sam Shultz will be racing. The course looks pretty cool on google maps... some sort of a BMX track!!!
ROLLING THUNDER ROCKED!
OK I have to be honest... I was nervous driving 5 hours for a 60 minute race...But we loaded up the car and make the trip on pure faith that the MT' crew were going to put on a killer event...I have to say.......... as we rolled into the parking lot... I wasn't sure if I was in MT OR Vegas....
They had brought in LIGHTS....BEER TENTS.... and tons of spectators... Some in costume and tons of cow bell!
After a few pre-laps I was a bit nervous about the technical parts of the course ...which included 10 FULL sized WOOPS on the BMX track and a HUGE Banked turn that you could just ride like you were on rails...
The race went great... I pulled out of me pedal at the start... and ended up going through the first turn in 5th or something... I sat back for the first lap trying not to wreck to early... Everything about the course felt different at FULL speed. Some of the easy corners were super hard when you double the speed. About 4 laps in I was pegged and could feel the elastic stretching a bit... So I pinned it and opened up a small gap. The MT' riders were not easy to shake.... they were tight on me for several laps. I noticed that once the gap opened... Sam Shultz was getting SICK air on the WOOPS... I could see the flashes out of the corner of my eye. It is odd to be racing FULL out and see the guy chasing riding the BMX track like he on HELL track... I spent the next 30 minutes trying not to wreck and riding as hard as I possibly could. When the dust settled I had a small gap at the finish and WON my first race in almost a year...I have to say it felt great. I have to say thanks to the ROLLING THUNDER crew for making this a destination event. From the shots of Yeager to the Bottle of Champagne I got to spray....It was just rad.... OH yeah... A huge thanks to GREAT NORTHERN CYCLES and FELT for coming through with the raddest prize I have ever won... A new FELT F1!!!
To see a shop and company support cross this strongly makes me want to support them. So if you live in MT... go buy a bike from Great Northern Cycles.... if you are thinking of getting a CX bike, Road bike, or a great cruiser... take a look at FELT... I checked them out at Interbike last month and all of there new bikes look great. Karen and I were thinking of picking up some cervelos for next road season...but were on the fence about the new FELTS.... so Great Northern and Felt made the decision super easy... We will be rocking a NEW FELT TT bike for Karen and I am going to get one of the new FELT aero road bike... I will be sure to give you a report in the spring.
ROLLING THUNDER ROCKED!
OK I have to be honest... I was nervous driving 5 hours for a 60 minute race...But we loaded up the car and make the trip on pure faith that the MT' crew were going to put on a killer event...I have to say.......... as we rolled into the parking lot... I wasn't sure if I was in MT OR Vegas....
They had brought in LIGHTS....BEER TENTS.... and tons of spectators... Some in costume and tons of cow bell!
After a few pre-laps I was a bit nervous about the technical parts of the course ...which included 10 FULL sized WOOPS on the BMX track and a HUGE Banked turn that you could just ride like you were on rails...
The race went great... I pulled out of me pedal at the start... and ended up going through the first turn in 5th or something... I sat back for the first lap trying not to wreck to early... Everything about the course felt different at FULL speed. Some of the easy corners were super hard when you double the speed. About 4 laps in I was pegged and could feel the elastic stretching a bit... So I pinned it and opened up a small gap. The MT' riders were not easy to shake.... they were tight on me for several laps. I noticed that once the gap opened... Sam Shultz was getting SICK air on the WOOPS... I could see the flashes out of the corner of my eye. It is odd to be racing FULL out and see the guy chasing riding the BMX track like he on HELL track... I spent the next 30 minutes trying not to wreck and riding as hard as I possibly could. When the dust settled I had a small gap at the finish and WON my first race in almost a year...I have to say it felt great. I have to say thanks to the ROLLING THUNDER crew for making this a destination event. From the shots of Yeager to the Bottle of Champagne I got to spray....It was just rad.... OH yeah... A huge thanks to GREAT NORTHERN CYCLES and FELT for coming through with the raddest prize I have ever won... A new FELT F1!!!
To see a shop and company support cross this strongly makes me want to support them. So if you live in MT... go buy a bike from Great Northern Cycles.... if you are thinking of getting a CX bike, Road bike, or a great cruiser... take a look at FELT... I checked them out at Interbike last month and all of there new bikes look great. Karen and I were thinking of picking up some cervelos for next road season...but were on the fence about the new FELTS.... so Great Northern and Felt made the decision super easy... We will be rocking a NEW FELT TT bike for Karen and I am going to get one of the new FELT aero road bike... I will be sure to give you a report in the spring.
