This morning there was a really cool race at the Amasa Back trail in Moab called the
Suffer & Send It race put on by the Chile Pepper Bike Shop. There were two portions of the race and a lot of people did both. The first portion was a race to the top of the false summit -- so. . .mostly uphill & technical. The second portion was a chainless descent from the finish of the climb down to the creek crossing.
I volunteered to be a Course Marshall & found out I would be blocking one of the most popular lines by mountain bikers on this trail. I decided I better look as official as possible. I located my pink cowboy hat with the sheriff's badge and sequined trim and set out to my station on the trail. The first riders came thru launching off the drop at the bottom of the staircase.
It was no surprise to me that my friend, Kyle Mears, was leading the pack. He wins most races in Moab with his incredible fitness & grace. Well he zipped right by me as I shouted, "Stay Right, Mr. Mears." He was racing & likely wondering what in the world I was talking about. I started telling him he was going the wrong way and he was like, "what?" The next fella got in my face a little as I told him this was not the way. Seriously, didn't he notice my badge?
Fortunately, the rest of the riders stayed on course, and it was only a few moments later that I saw Kyle pedaling back up the trail to get back on course. He was very apologetic and had the other racer in tow. I was very impressed because, although he is very fit, I knew it would be challenging for him to get back to the front of the pack. What an excellent display of sportsmanship!
There were several other local riders on the course:
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| Whit Richardson |
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| Bjorn representing Poison Spider Bicycles |
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| Andy Platt |
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| Jenna Woodbury |
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| Gina Jane |
