Hanson Hills XC 08 Report

Hanson Hills Challenge MTB Race 6/1/2008

It was a great day up at Hanson after a cool morning. I believe there were 8 of us in the beginner/sport ss class. Off the start there was 5 of us running together starting the first climb. 3 separated about half way up.

At the top one of the leaders had a mechanical issue. I had one rider on my wheel on the first fast downhill. At the bottom there was a double jump, my rear wheel kicked off the first and the front dove into the second. Not sure how I saved it, the rider behind me did the same thing and pinch flatted. That put me solidly in third place.

I looked back on the next climb and there was no one else in sight. I settled in at about mile 3 and was feeling good. Around mile 8 I had some noise in the front of the bike and my front skewer had worked loose. I stopped and clamped it down good and took off. I seen another rider approaching and he caught me on a climb.

To my relief I heard him shift and let him by at the top. We went into the new single track and to the final climb were I caught him and Dennis Murphy was at the top and said that I had 3rd place locked up.

At that point it was all downhill to the finish line. First place was 3 minutes ahead of me. My time was 53:48 for the 10.5 mile course. I was hoping to break an hour and place in the top five, so I was very happy. They continue to improve this trail every year, it is one of my favorites.

Dennis Bauer