The boys at Raven Cycle Werks sure made a beauty.
It was a perfect test for the new ride. The center track drivetrain worked well. We've been running CDS systems for a while & it appears to eliminate some of the belt line issues. We ran this system at less tension on the snow.
We took off from east 8th street with a 3 mile climb on 5th. The rig was more responsive than I anticipated and climbed suprisingly well. I hit the snow off the first climb in third but was leading by the end of the first descent. Fresh snow was falling throughout the race.
A nice shot of the accumulating snow on course. Part of the mineral belt trail had snow drifts above teh knee's and a stiff wind smaking you in the face. There was a false flat on teh miuneral belt trail in the closing miles and I had a hard time turning the single speed over in that much snow & a false flat. I was caught just at the end of the trail while we turned onto 5th street for the descent. It was tough as many of the guys had gears & were getting some good pedal on. But the snow bike pounded through some of the drifts and as we came down fifth apparently we missed a turn to take us to 7th. We sprinted to the finish & i simply ran out of gear on the flat road finish...what a trip, sprinting to the finish after stomping around in the snow for over an hour & a half. Because of the missed turn at the end we were DQ'd, but the bike worked well and we had fun none-the-less. My hands were frozen & I jumped in a car to de-ice, it was a chilly one.
Doug was rockin his Turner and laid down a sweet slide across the finish. Man, it was brutal cold.
Jeremy grabbing a grin after a good day in the snow & on the bike, he battled for 2nd in the SS category.
Doug warms up in the truck before a GORDON.
As usual, the post race was just as much fun as the race itself. OB Beer & some good Mexican Food were a great way to end the day. Cheers to the Leadville crew, see you at the next one.
1 comment:
ultra sicks
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