Ok…so the dreaded King of Jester! First let me say it was a ton of fun…even if it was less than 5 minutes worth of work. I heard about this race last season after it had happened and thought is sounded pretty interesting. This was before I had ever seen Jester Hill. Then sometime later in the season we had hill repeats scheduled on Jester and I thought, all right now I get to see what this is all about. Well, needles to say I wondered why anybody would want to race up such a hill…and then a year later here I am, racing up that hill! Jester village was essentially the “staging area” where all the cyclists, runners, and people with other means of human transportation congregated and warmed up. It’s really cool when racing events go down in Austin because of the high concentration of competitive people in one area. Some look calm, others scared and others look down right mad. (the last category always confuses me, but I’m sure they’re just concentrating). There was one area of the parking lot where about 20 trainers were lined up with riders warming up, turning the pedals, laughing, telling stories and creating a great vibe. If you’ve never been to a race it should be on the list of things to do in your life. The energy and sense of anticipation in any staging area is absolutely amazing. Lauri brought on of the trainers from the house and I warmed up for about 20 minutes after registering and checking out the scene. My Dad, Susan, Lauri, Steph and John went to check out the running TT’s while I warmed up so I pedaled with my thoughts. Susan had told me something that morning at my house that I kept running through my head, “It’s not about the finish line it’s about the race, so enjoy the race”. This was her Buddhist thought of the day and it helped out a lot. When the time came to move to the starting ramp I was ready to roll, and very excited! There was no defined interval of time between the start of each rider from the ramp, so when you were ready you plunged into the pain. The line to the ramp was, at any given time, 15-25 riders long and moving quick. We all milled around checking our gear selection, adjusting our jerseys and performed other trivial tasks due to nerves. The guy in front of me, whose name I can not recall, told me this was his second time to do the race and that he was counting on doing better than the previous year. Apparently he had to walk his bike up part way the year before, but was confident he would get it this year. I told him I thought he would do better, especially since this was not his first time and the ensuing conversation helped calm us both down. Finally it was my turn! I lifted my bike onto the ramp, got situated and HIT IT!! 3 minutes 14 seconds isn’t a long time, unless your legs are on fire! The bottom 1/3 of the hill was good. I passed the guy I was talking to and gained more speed. The burn was creeping. I knew it was coming and tried to stay focused on my breathing to stay inside my head. Just over halfway up the hill I passed Susan and Lauri who were cheering me on and keeping me going. As I passed them Lauri took off running next to me and was talking me through the climb. I can’t begin to explain how much this helped me! She was telling me I was doing well, climbing faster than most, and that my form was looking strong. Like I said, this was really cool of her to do. I remember as she was saying these things I started to vocalize my pain because the burn in my legs, and now in my lungs, was starting to elicit a response. I was talking, or something of that nature, in short choppy phrases which probably didn’t make any sense at all. Lauri ran with me until her legs began to give (she didn’t warm up, and pacing me was a spur of the moment idea). Just as she dropped off I hit the steepest part of the hill and in came my Dad. Out of nowhere I hear somebody yelling, seemingly at the top of their lungs, “Go Josh, go man you’re looking good!” I picked up the pace a little, saw the finish line and stood up to finish out the race! Crossing the finish line was total relief. As I got off my bike I wobbled around and almost fell. I thought this was hilarious and began to laugh, a race volunteer asked me if I was OK and I assured him I wasn’t about to pass out. Everybody made their way up the hill and greeted me at the finish line and I have to say it was absolutely wonderful. This race was really cool and I want to thank everybody who came out to see me race. You all made the race so much more meaningful. I’m happy with where I placed and am sure next year I’ll be even faster! -Chia

I admire Jester Blvd, I do.  The .5 mile "hill" boasting approximately 350 vertical feet ranging from 10-20% grade humbles me.  So when the King of Jester race made its way around again, it was all Joshua.

Ok, I've not yet recovered enough from this race to write anything...however, the Race Director has posted his race recollection and it's awesome!  Please take some time to go to the link and read it...it mentions Phat Free a few time!!!  whoo-hoo!  :)

http://www.steelsports.net/2004SuperCooperREVIEW.htm

So Phat Free has put another notch in the racing department. This race wasn't too bad with the exception that it really wasn't an adventure race. It was more like a dirty triathlon, but instead of swimming you had kayaking. No special tasks existed in the race which required the team to work together, which Lauri and I feel is the very essence of an adventure race. On the short run teams had to endure, part of the course took you aprox 20 yards into the lake to walk around two markers in the water. This put the water at about waist deep and was there to provide an energy sap for the return run. Not too bad. The kayaking sucked!!! Seats were not provided for the old Sevylars, which all the teams were required to use. With no back support both of us were forced to lean forward the entire way, which became quite cumbersome after...ohhh say...2 minutes! We did get two comments from other teams asking us where the motor was on our kayak as we flew past them. yeahh. Ehhh...we also got the Sevylar proof of use: two elbows rubbed raw. Now the mountain bike leg was the best part of the whole race. We got in and out of the TA like lighting and then lit it up to the loop. At first we were stuck behind some slower moving teams, but were able to pass them with ease. We passed those who did not let us around when they spun out on the hills. Ha, that's what you get!!!!! Then we put a lot of distance between us and them and were chasing the faster moving groups. We could not see them but knew they were there! Actually, for awhile we were riding by ourselves and it was quit relaxing. Then we came upon the faster teams and were able to pick some of them off. Just before the finish line we had to crawl under a cargo net while somebody sprayed us with a garden hose. ………….Wow! I did get an eyeful of mud, which despite the stagnant smell and sweat content was kinda like being at a spa! All in all it was a good learning tool but could have used more special tasks!

The next stop was Subaru, the North location next to the Highland mall.  These folks had different colored letters spread around on some vehicles.  The challenge was to write down all the letters and then solve the word puzzle.  Once we figured out that the actual words were separated by color it made it much easier.  We had the following letters:

NDISE   ASWHT   YB  RVIDEN   

So, we figured out from this:  What's driven by Denis.....

That wasn't right.

We were so confused until we found out that we had some how missed an "I"!

That led us to the phrase:  By what's driven inside.

That wasn't right!  This task was sucking badly.  I stood there frustrated trying to run the damn Subaru commercials through my head...Ok...there's Lance driving a Subaru...blah, blah, blah...Then he says at the end..."Subaru, driven by what's inside."

Finally....I know, probably seems obvious and easy, but we were in race mode!  Our minds were scrambling through thoughts and all those letters just looked like letters...confusing.  Pretty much everyone there was having the same trouble.


From there we head back South to Stubbs BBQ.  This was by far the easiest task, in my opinion.  We had to start by doing a 5-step dance, in sync, on stage...then we had to shoot three targets with a paintball gun.  Easy for both of us.  ;)

The next Chipotle point was right up the street, so we headed there next.  This time one partner had to go inside and solve a math problem while the other had to hoola-hoop outside until they were finished.  The hoola-hooping was no problem since we'd been practicing that before the race...hey, you do what you have to do...
but the math problem I hear, was a bitch.  Josh figured it out, though, and we were on our way to Jo's off of S. Congress.

Jo's was pretty easy for us too.  The task there was for one person to be riding a bmx bike while the other stood on the pegs...then you had to weave in and out of some cones they had set up while a guy sprayed you with water, making it hard to see and making the ground slippery.  Oh yes, and you had to do this while singing a Micheal Jackson song...So, we "Billy Jeaned" our way around the course very quickly...I thing Josh having unicycling skills really paid off here because he weaved around those cones so fast I thought we'd surely wipe out!  But we didn't...



-second half coming soon


UPDATE:

okay, so maybe the "second half" isn't coming.  we regretfully discovered later that many of the teams did not participate in all of the special tasks.  since the race is fairly new, the organization of it was off a bit, so some of the teams were able to escape some of the more time consuming tasks...i.e.: the bike/run from the rowing dock to runtex.
at first we thought that maybe it was just a handful of people, but later found out that some of the top ten teams in the main catagories either skipped out on the longer tasks or took the 5min penalty on longer tasks as a means of strategy. 
although the race itself was "fun", i personally do not consider it a fair race.  the most exciting thing about adventure racing is not knowing what you're up against, and facing each challenge as it comes...we do not believe that skipping challenges as strategy is true racing. 
we're proud to say that against all unfair odds, we still beat out 74 teams in our catagory, coming in 28th out of 102!  phat!

      You know that saying, "Rules are made to be broken"?  Well, it's true.  Not only are they broken but they are modified as time passes.  This is only too true for adventure racing.  What I've learned is that as time passes special tests will be modified to conform to what is going on in the race.  So the instructions you hear may change from minute to minute. 

    

      At our first stop, The North Face, one team member had to stand on the block w/ their hands in the air while the other tried to throw a hoop/soft Frisbee around them.  So a couple of teams got lucky and were able to get this on the first try.  Out of nowhere the race official starts telling us, "you've got to be standing on one leg."  What?  That's not what the other people did.  "Are you serious?” was my reply.  The race official made it clear to me that he indeed meant business.  Ahh well, what can you do.  After a couple of tries we switched and I was able to land the hoop around Lauri.  Good, where's that stupid blue card! Ok, punch, we're outta here.  

    

     Chipotle was the next stop with the summersaults followed by the bear hug roll.  This was to be accomplished while holding a burrito shaped balloon.  All went well here except when Lauri accidentally flipped onto the camera in her jersey pocket.  I know she was in a lot of pain by the look on her face.  She took a second to focus, and then like the soldier she is pushed forward!  Ohh yeah, while we were in the middle of the test some guy stops his vehicle on the adjacent street to ask us a question about what we're doing.  Hmmm..... well.....perhaps WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RACE!!!  Must remain calm...........

      We finish the bear hug roll and upright ourselves, and there goes the balloon.  "Well, there goes the balloon" I said as it floated away.  No problem, were done, right?  "Save your balloon.  You will need it to finish the race."  These horrid words came from a race official right after the balloon floated away.  Luckily Lauri thought the balloon popped and told the officials that we needed another one because of the untimely demise of our first one.  No problem, here, have another.  Good. Punch that pesky card and we’re gone.  Five minutes later Lauri is lancing the balloon like a ripe blister!  To Subaru!!!!!  

     What can I say about this checkpoint?  Hmmm...it was annoying, but they did have watermelon.  Like Lauri said, the fog of racing didn't help sort out the 19 letters to, "Driven by what’s inside".  Well, we got it and got the hell out of Dodge. 

 

On to Stubb’s!!  

Winter was slowly shaking off and my body finally wanted to ride.  I’m not a winter person, never have been.  I prefer the sweltering heat any day.  For the past four months I had to convince myself to get on the bike--and I do mean, “Had to convince.”

My friend Joshua had become my best friend on the trail.  Since we lived very close to each other, we rode together all the time.  Although he did his best to motivate me to ride, I must say, it was an effortless season.  The best thing that came out of the winter (in my opinion) was our discovery of urban riding.  We improved greatly on our technical skills by practicing on the street.  Wheelie drops, endos, popping up onto large objects…all skills that we eventually took to the trails!

 

So as I was saying, winter was slowly shaking off and Josh was toying with the idea of racing.  We had both done some mountain bike racing in the past but I had long since grown bored of that.

 

<Enter the day Josh introduces the idea of doing an adventure race>…The Balance Bar Adventure Sprint to be exact.  If we were going to do it, we would have a little less than 8 weeks before race day (May 9^th).  Since we’re both in college and working, this would mean giving up a lot of free time, that we don’t have much of, to train.

Three full days I contemplated.

Committed.

 

We started our training in the mornings, before school.  Our weakest skill was running since we basically did not run, so we would go to Walnut Creek Park and run the trails.  During the first week we started off running for about 20 or so minutes straight…very slowly.  We improved a good deal by the second week, running about 42mins straight. 

 

Although we were progressing, it was becoming obvious that we either needed a hell of a lot more time to train before the race, or we needed to seek help.

 

Charlotte Morris is an Ironman/Triathlete.  I met her at the Bicycle Sport Shop where she works full-time.  After talking with her about our training situation and our goal to finish the adventure race, she agreed to be our coach.  At first her training schedules didn’t really make sense to me.  The days of short speedwork, only running for 30mins…I wasn’t convinced that it was enough.  I was worried that we would only get a little faster, but then we’d be stuck with only being able to run short distances.  Josh stuck to the training religiously from day one, and so I did as well.

 

It was like magic…and I’m not joking.  By the 4^th week we were running farther and faster…and not just a little farther…we were capable of running at least 7mi. at a time!  We were making huge improvements overall!  The training was paying off and I began to trust it more and more.

 

During the same week that Charlotte became our coach, we also found out that in order to do the Balance Bar race we had to be a three-person team.  Shit.

We rushed to find someone who we thought we could work well with and who was capable of at least finishing the race. 

 

I met Ben Mckenzie when I worked as a Web Designer for Thompson Media.  At first glance I considered him to be another conceited Java programmer (I’ve crossed paths with many).  Once I got to know Ben, I found him to be a highly intelligent man who was only a little conceited (LOL).  In a short time, we were best buddies at work.  We both shared an interest in exercise and spent many lunch hours working out.

When I contacted Ben about becoming our third teammate he did the same thing I did…took a few days to think about it, but once he was in, he was in.

 

We all met at the Balance Bar seminar hosted by Nike ACG/Balance Bar leading lady, Danelle Ballengee.  (This chick is awesome!!!  Read more about her at:  http://www.eliteadventureteam.com/html/danelle.html).

We decided to each come up with 3 team names and vote on one.  Josh and I really wanted something that we could use for all of our races to come, assuming we’d be doing more racing after Balance Bar…team “Phat Free” was the best choice.

 

Bens’ schedule did not allow him to train with us so we didn’t know what he was capable of until we all got together for a “pre-race” practice out at Muleshoe Bend.

Following the training plan Charlotte made for us, we were to spend a Sat. working out for 4-5 hours biking, running, and kayaking. 

 

We started off running the Muleshoe loop, which is 7mi in length by our computers.  We quickly realized by the way Bens heart rate monitor was beeping, that he was having to really push it on the run.  We put him in front to set a comfortable pace for himself only to find that our legs were actually cramping up and getting stiff…we were used to running a little faster and with a longer stride.  Everyone has their own style of running and Bens stride just happens to be shorter than mine, and a lot shorter than Joshs.

By the time we were 2mi from finishing the trail, Ben’s heart rate had red lined.  It was in the 180’s and not recovering very quickly.  Josh put the towline on him and towed him out of the trail.  Regardless of the struggles on that run, we ran the whole thing, and that’s what mattered most.

 

We completed the day with riding the loop and kayaking.  We all finished that day knowing exactly where we stood in our training, and what we needed to work on over the 3 weeks we had before the race.  We worried about Ben doing the race…we weren’t concerned with how we would place in the race, but more about his safety really.  The most important thing was for him to not overdo anything to the point of reversing his fitness progression.  So Ben stepped up the training to what was good for him, and Josh and I stuck with our coach’s schedule.

 

Josh and I took our last finals the Thursday before the race.  Training had been hard those two weeks because we both had school to consider.  A lot of my time was spent in study groups and stressing out about doing well on my tests.

But school was finally over!  We had two days to really focus on the race…what we were going to bring, eat, and how we would organize staying together and such.

I had received some advice that I thought made a lot of sense, and still do post race…

We would put our second-to-the-fastest team member (me) in front to be the pace –setter, the fastest person (Josh) in the middle, and the third fastest member in the back (Ben).  This way Josh could tow Ben and on the run, and Ben could draft off of Josh on the bike, and neither Ben, nor I, would have to push at Josh’s pace (which would have surely killed us both).   Did I mention that Josh is a kick ass fast Mt. Biker?  Well, his running pretty much followed suit.

 

Sat May 8^th:

 

We spent the day before the race signing our wavers, picking up our packets, and watching the pro teams give demos of some of the tasks we would be facing.  Of course, about the only “special test” we were sure of was the 12 foot wall…everything else was neatly tucked away under huge tarps, leaving it up to everyone's imagination as to what we would be facing the next day.

 

During our mandatory meeting (the last thing of the day), we were told the distances we would be racing for our 3 main skills (running, biking, kayaking).

The race would be in this order: 7.5mi run, 4mi bike, 1.5mi kayak, 7.5mi bike, with 8 special tests dispersed throughout.

Man, it was funny.  When he said we were starting off with a 7mi run…you could hear the whispers.  People were definitely worried then.

 

That night I was restless…shows I’m a rookie I’m sure.  I didn’t get to sleep until midnight and was up again by 2am.  By the time 5am rolled around and it was time to get up, I’d slept all of 4 hours.  My God, race day was here.  All we could do now was trust our training, as Josh would say.

 

The race:

 

I was so tired.  Yes, that’s how I’ll start things off…I was dragging ass just to get my stuff packed in the truck.  We got to the race grounds a little past what we had originally hoped for.  Ben was already there, which was a surprise since he’d said the day before that he would be arriving later….but, it was also a good thing; one less thing to worry about.  We put our gear in the transition area and Josh and I headed out for a warm-up run. 

 

Standing at the startline, my stomach started to turn.  I felt a little sick…pre-race jitters?  Our “special tests” booklet was passed out and we had about 1 min to thumbed through it before the gun went off.  The first task listed:  run/swim.  Huh?  Swim?  I know, I know, this is an adventure race…but whatever, it was our first and I’m not a swimmer.  We rushed to throw the booklet into our “waterproof” map case and seal it up before it was time to go.

5 mins into the run was the swim…a short crossing to get to the other side of the trail…of course, there was a catch…you had to be touching your teammates…so it was more frantic doggy-paddling than swimming.  everyone was in the water; barely any room to move, let alone “swim.”  As soon as my feet couldn’t touch the bottom, I was sure I’d drown…Josh pretty much pulled me across the lake.

 

Once up and out of the water, we were running again.  Trying to shake off the panic of the swim, I barely heard Josh’s moan of frustration.  I turned around to see our “waterproof” map case filled with water.  Our special tests booklet was soaked; ruined.

 

We were just over 15min into the run according to my H2O alarm (set for 15min intervals for hydration reminders) when Ben started to have trouble.  We quickly put the towline on him and Josh towed him the rest of the run.  At first we had trouble not getting separated on the run because I was keeping pace and couldn’t tell that Ben had dropped far enough behind Josh that the towline was completely taut, keeping Josh from staying right behind me.  Finally, after a short bout of frustration, Josh started using the cues, “tension” and “slack” to let me know how to set the pace.  When he said “tension” Ben was dropping off and the towline was at a “snapping point”; I’d slow down.  Then he’d say “slack” to let me know that there was enough slack in the line that we could speed up again.  A simple, effective plan.

 

The boys and girls who planned this race knew what they were doing.  This run had everything from long rocky climbs, steep decents through cacti (Josh and I were pulling needles out of our legs when we got home), to a swampy, foul smelling sludgy marsh that spiked your heart rate just trying to drive your way through it! 

Not to mention that we had to do that lap 2 times to make the course.  So, 2x the swim, 2x the cacti, 2x the ass-smelling marsh…you get the picture, don’t you?

 

            Coming out of the run we made our way to the second special test…some sort of  leap-frog / mud pit idea.  We carefully watched the teams ahead of us preform the tasks (remember our test booklet got ruined within the first 5 mins of the race).

We leaped from post to post and then dropped down and rolled in the mud pit.  Ben got the short end of the stick on that one…he face planted in the mud so evenly, so you couldn’t see his face through the mud. 

 

            On from there to the first 4.5 mi bike ride…pretty uneventful as far as I remember.

 

            From the bike to the kayaking.  And of course, another special test.  One member in the 2-man kayak had to be turned around, paddling backwards for the first mile of the kayak.  If you’re a veteran kayaker you know that the person paddling backwards is pretty much wasting their time and energy going nowhere fast.  I was that person.  I thought my arms were going to fall off into the water.  And poor, poor Josh.  His efforts had to see us through that first mile…by the look on his face (and I could see it because I was facing him) was not good.  At one point in time he told me to keep paddling while he quickly washed his hands off in the lake…I paddled as hard as I could, and we just stood still…and to top it off, when Josh brought his hands up from the water, the watch that he’d worn for 4 years had fallen victim to the lake…*moment of silence please*

 

            Since we were going so slowly during that first mile, Ben held back in his kayak…that proved to be a mistake.  Once we were instructed that we could begin normally, I turned around and Josh and I hauled ass, leaving Ben behind.  We didn’t even realize it until we hit shore and put our kayaks up.  We had to wait on shore until we could see him coming in, then Josh ran back out there to help him put up his gear…

 

            On to the special test I hated the most…each one of my legs where zip-tied (ouch!) to the one of the guys legs.  Then we had to manuever our way up and over obstacles and ending with me doing a handstand…the only way to truly get the idea across is for you to check out the photos on the website…

 

            The 7.5 mi bike was a bit more frustrating than the first.  Everyone was trying to speed it up here and there were a few guys who attempted to muscle their way around folks.  There were more accident, people bonking, and pile-ups than we’d seen the entire race before.  Josh and I were continuously getting into trouble by the volunteers out there because Ben was falling behind. 

“Team Phat Free!  Where’s your third teammate!!!?”

Huh?  He’s not behind us?  Doh!  We were forced to pull over.  Finally I dropped back and let Josh go on ahead.  He needed to stretch his legs and his pent up race energy was getting to him.  It was getting to me too, but I kept reminding myself that we were not in the race to kill anyone.  It was our first race…we’d just like to finish.  Remember?

 

            The end of the last bike ride held two special tests to attack before the finish.  The transverse wall, and the 12-foot wall.  On the first test we had to make our way across this wall that was set up much like a rock climbing wall.  The first person on (Josh) had to be the last person off.  So Ben and I separately had to make our way around Josh before we could get to the other side of the wall.  I got over pretty quikly I think being the smallest.  I think Ben must’ve really been fatigued at this point because his entire body was shaking while he was trying to get around Josh and to the other side.  But once he was off, Josh gladly followed.

 

            The 12-foot wall was easier than I thought it’d be.  We had a planned worked out the day before the race that the two guys would lift me up high enough for me to hold myself on the top edge…then Ben would drop down and Josh would stand on his back and push me high enough for me to get over the wall.  Then Ben would come up, then Josh.  We were up that thing so fast I was shocked.  We went down the other side and proudly jogged through the finish line.  Our time:  4:14:48, placing us 16^th our of 34 teams in our division.

 

            I would like to say that all three of us went into this race knowing that we were sitting at very different levels of fitness.  Joshua and I had a little over 7 weeks to train for this race, and since we had a more flexible schedule, could train hard.  Ben had a little over 5 weeks and not as much time to train as we did.  But the most admirable thing is this:  if ever Josh and I were suffering in that race, Ben suffered 10x more (at least)…but he pushed through all of that and team Phat Free came in the middle of our competitors in the end.  Kudos to Ben for finding the soldier within and overcoming the longest race the three of us have done so far!!!!!

 

Peace.

 

P.S. To read a more detailed account of the actual race, read Ben's story at :  http://www.benmckenzie.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

so it's been a few days since the race and I've had time to reflect on the kick ass time we had.  To say that I was suprised that we were going to have to run the 7mi straight would be an understatement.  However, I was not the least bit worried.  I towed "Short Arm" (Ben) through these 7 miles and found that towing isn't all that bad.  The extra strain on my legs was at times at bit cumbersom but it was all in the interest of the team, so no worries.  I've voiced this before and I'll say it again:  I believe one of the most valuable, not to mention simple, lessons I learned that day was to ALWAYS test the "water proof" map case BEFORE  the race.  It's funny, I put alot of effort into not changing anything about my bike, running shoes, socks, anything at all just so that nothing would be a surprise on race day, and in the end didn't even think about using the map case until we were on the line.  Eahh, what's life w/o some surprises.  I enjoyed the 1/4 mile leg of marsh we got to run through.  Well, all but the smell.  MMMMMMMMM....stagnant mud and water!  I think if i never get in a Sevylar kayak again it will be too soon.  In all fairness though it was much better than the kayak we trained in.  The last stretch of the mountain bike leg was alot different than the first 4mile stretch.  At this point in the race all the teams had been racing for approx 3hrs and those of us in the mt bike stretch were feeling it.  People were wrecking, spinning out, and in general cursing constantly.  It was some bizzarre seen of pain and pleasure.  Upon cresting a hill we noticed some poor guy practically in tears becase his leg was cramping.  We all immediately guzzled water out of fear, though we had been drinking water steadily thanks to Lauri and her magical watch.  And I quote, *beep beep beep beep* (her watch) "Drink now!"  This went on every 15 minutes for four hours, and thankfully so.  Oh yeah, this poor girl wiped out at the bottom of this hill.  No worries it was happening everywhere.  However, I don't know if it was out of sheer exhaustion or what but she just stood there, mountain bike and all waiting for an invitation to get the hell out of the way.  Somebody immediately asked if she was ok.  When she replied "yes" this unleashed a wave of "Well then get out of the way!"  And that was the edited version!  Lauri pulled a bad ass balancing act at the bottom of a particularly loose hill.  The back end of her bike got out from under her and she ended up perpendicular to the trail.  By looking at her face you would never have known anything went wrong...she stabalized the bike and rode off like nothing ever
happend.  Like I said...bad ass balancing act
Like I said before, this race was a blast!  I want to give props to my team mates, Charlotte, big Dave, Steph, Bobbie, my roommates and all others who helped us out!  Phat Free my friend....Phat Free.