Robert -- Here is a link to some photos:
http://www.43northphotography.com
Here is a race report too:
Conditions -- It was pretty mild day [60s] and fairly dusty. Not blinding dust but enough to cloud your vision a bit. There was a bit of a breeze to help, but not much.
Bomb run -- Got right behind Dave Pearson for my B wave start. He got the holeshot by the way. I got a good start but the run was pretty nerve racking. Halfway through there was a draw you had to negotiate. So I slammed through that and still had clear air. At the end of the bomb the course took a sharp left hand turn into a wash. To enter the wash you had to go down about a 10' bank. Since there wasn't any pre-running -- this was news to me. So I hit the brakes hard and managed to get in the draw no issues [although the pucker factor rose a bit]. I heard there was quite a pileup coming down this bank but didn't see it.
Onto the course -- One of the problems with nailing the bomb run is I was holding on so tight that my right arm cramped something fierce and I could hardly twist the throttle. So I wasn't able to push for the first 20 or so miles.
The course was pretty fast with lots of sand washes [high speed sandy stuff] and some fun twisty trails [mostly smaller washes]. When we got out of the washes the trails were wide, fast and fun. I need to learn how to ride those washes at speed. My bike was dancing and I hard a hard time really pushing it [need a stabilizer maybe?]. Props to you real desert guys for going so fast through that stuff.
That being said, I just tried to ride my pace the first loop in anticipation of the more technical [and longer] second loop. Came through the first loop 5th in class [Senior B] and felt good about that as I had the cramping issue and didn't really push it. My thinking was I would be able to make up a little time even on the technical stuff, because that is what I ride more often.
Pitted and headed out on some really fun, twisty single track. Riding at my normal pace I was doing pretty good, even picking off a rider or two and not getting passed all that much. The trail turned a little technical and I caught 5 or 6 guys and we all sort of bunched up.
Shortly thereafter [around 10 miles into the 59 mile 2nd loop], I threw me and the bike into about an 8' gully. The group I caught up to created some dust and I took an outside line. The trail turned left and I went straight. I realized my error and got hard on the brakes but it wasn't enough and launched off the side and impact the bank on the other side. I tweaked the front tire pretty good and completely broke my left aluminum handguard off [It broke totally off both mounting points]. I hit the bars with my chest and landed hard on the tank with my crotch. I saw stars.
As I was figuring out where I was some guy did the exact same thing and crashed. His cartwheeling bike hit me square in the back and knocked my about 5' away with his bike landing on me. The worst part was his dry break cracked open and spilled about a gallon of gas on my midsection and crotch. I seriously cannot tell you how much it burned.
I thought about stripping down and dumping my camelback over my body to stop the stinging even.
After about 10 minutes I was able to get my bike straightened out, get myself squared away and push on. I thought about bagging it but, aside from my stinging crotch, I wanted to finish. I didn't have much left and rode pretty conservatively all the way in. I couldn't have gone much faster -- I was spent.
The second loop was 59 miles. At 32 I stopped and got some gas at e-gas. Super helpful folks there. I can't say enough about the club and the support. First rate.
Shortly after e-gas I came upon some poor guy who was laying there with a broken leg. He passed me on the first loop and was riding good, so it must have been a real bummer. A couple of guys were trying to coax some others [including myself] to stay and help out, but with my unit [and entire midsection] on fire from the gas in my pants -- I decided to push on.
Rolled into the pits a bit later. It was really too bad I blew it because the 2nd loop was much more fun and to my liking. I ended up 11th in class [dropping about 15 minutes relative to where I came through at the half way point]. I'm pretty disappointed but glad I finished. I felt ok about my speed and absent my crash I probably would have ended up about 4th to 6th. If "ifs and buts" were.... yada yada yada.
All in all, not a bad event. I'm paying for it today. I have a bruise on my chest the size of a small child, my right nut is the size of a softball, and I have a rash on my waist from the gas [where my toolbelt was].
But -- I have a finisher pin.
