12 Hours of Mesa Verde

The 12 Hours of Mesa Verde has come and gone. As expected it was a very tough race. In my opinion it is one of the harder 12 hour races due to it's length of 16 miles each lap and the rockiness of the Stinking Springs section and not to mention the 1500 feet of climbing. My goal was to complete 8 laps but I succumbed after lap 7 and was able to hang onto 4th place after leading for a bit and dropping consistently to 4th in the solo singlespeed class. Not sure if I had went for the 8th lap that I would have been able to take 2nd or 3rd. I was cooked. Shawn Gregory took top honors in the solo singlespeed class. He has had a tremendous year and has done well. Very tough competition. Paul Adams; a local from Cortez took 5th place. Lenny Goodell; my teammate on Big Wheel Racing from Albuquerque took 7th respectively in the solo SS class.
Another BWR member from Durango, Jeni Turgeon, took 5th place in the solo women's class with 6 laps. Very impressive! Jeni stepped in to take Matt's place in a solo spot who is out with an Achilles injury.
Not a huge Big Wheel Racing team turnout as in previous years but at least 2 of us were on the podium.
And yet another noteworthy finish is to my good friend TR Larson, whom competed in his first ever 12 hour race; TR finished 6 laps in the solo singlespeed class. Nice job TR on your first 12 hour race. He may be BWR material.

Next on tap is the Kokopelli Trail Race this Friday starting at midnight. A self supported endurance race. This will be my 4th time to ride this and hope to knock some serious time off of my previous finishes. Local racers joining me on this adventure are Kiviok Hight, Shawn Gregory and Paul Adams. Kiviok and Shawn rode with me last year to finish their first KTR's.