The Escalante Days XC Bike Race in Dolores, Colorado is held every year in conjunction with the celebration of Escalante Days. I had missed the race last year due to racing the Colorado Trail Race. The legs didn't want any business in that fun! True XC racing is hard and this race is long at over 30 miles.
The course is 30 plus miles covering almost all of the Boggy Draw trail system with the crux being the Bean Canyon climb toward the end of the race before riding the gravel road out to the pavement and back to town. The race spread out quickly after the hill climb. Kirby and Terry in my class blasted up the road and I didn't see them until the finish. I passed two Telluride single speeders in the first half mile of single track to never see them again until the finish. I was alone for awhile and had a group of geared riders pass me half way through Boggy Draw single track and I was able to get pass them when they decided to walk the off -camber cattle guard near the Bean Canyon overlook. I yelled to them "this is how a single speeder does it" and I blasted on to not see them until they finished. I didn't see any other riders the remainder of the race. My time this year has been consistent with prior years with my best time at 2:08.
I placed 3rd overall in the single speed class and 1st in my age group with a time of 2:15:20 taking home a crisp $100 bill. Thank you Dolores Rotary Club!
The 29er KBC ti bike once again did it's job and rode flawless. I ran a 32x19 gearing.
Next up is the 24 Hours in the Sage on August 23rd in Gunnison, Colorado where I will be racing solo single speed.
