Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dawn Til Dusk...

Van is stuck, race is cancelled...we're all stuck in the muck.

We headed south to Gallup, NM to catch race #1 of the Rocky Mountain Ultra series. We pulled into Gallup Friday night just in time to register and catch a beautiful sunset while breifly checking out the course. After a quick ride we headed back to El Rancho to meet up with duo team of Robin & Brenden from Durango. They were having a Dale's Pale Ale with dinner at El Rancho catching up with an old buddy Lloyd our gracious host, thanks man. It was a good evening checking out some stages of the 1992 TDF before hitting bed for an early morning. We got up, made a bit of breakfast & headed to the race site to get set up. Snow & rain welcomed us as we watched some cars turn around & others venture in. We pointed the DPA van to the venue & hit the mud. We got the van lodged & started set up for the delayed 9:00 start. After more snow & rain they postponed start again until 11:00. A sucker hole came out breifly before the snow struck the final blow. The mud was so deep & sticky there really was no escape. The race was eventually cancelled & our cooler became a short term solution to the weather as people started planning their retreat. We got tagged, Gallup style. Lloyd, our host & main man behind the Gallup Trails 2010 tent is wondering WTF? The 2009 Dawn Til Dusk did name one champion...The barrel race champ crosses the line. and gets the reward. Gallup piles were forming in the mud.
Schafer, runner up in the barrel race hiding the shame well behind the hat.
The hard fought semi-final of the barrel race. A battle between Robon Gulliume & Brenden Schafer was an instant classic.
The mud caused problems, there were many solutions...this was one of the more intersting.

Thanks to everyone who rolled with the punches this weekend....thanks for having us Gallup, the course & organization were impressive...I hope the weather treats us better next year.

3 comments:

Lloyd said...

Glad ya liked the 1992 Tour coverage. Next year I plan to put together a compulation tape that chronicles accomplishments of Laurent Brochard. The king of the cycling mullet.

Melis said...

Yeah man, bummed bout the lack of bike riding this weekend...heading to Fruita for a fix this weekend. thanks again for the hospitality. Be in touch man, CHEERS!

Lance Hater...funny & true.

Anonymous said...

all's fun in snow and mud ....
glad to see someone used the barrels for racing after setting them up in sunny weather the day before.

thanks for sharing the video. loved it. the next weekend was beautiful. love to have you back next year for the Dawn til Dusk race.

Lone Ranger