VQ

I had a great day, but Tinker had an even better day!  

He went really hard from the start and opened up close to a 5 minute gap by the first aid station.  3.5 hours later I finished 5 minutes down...  A lot of guys were riding well this year, and I was super happy to see my good friend Ryan Clark have a breakthrough ride for 3rd and Nate Whitman set a PR on his 12th consecutive VQ. 

The crazy thing about the Vision Quest is the last third of the course.  After climbing for 3 hours, the Holy Jim descent is a solid 30 minutes long followed by multiple stream crossings which give your legs no choice but to cramp up.  I had about 3 in a row where my hamstrings completely locked.  Getting my leg back over the saddle when that happened was the hardest moment of the day.  From there the "hike a bike" up West Horse Thief is what makes or breaks the day for everyone in the top 10.  Once pedaling up hill again my legs got back in to their familiar movement pattern and I slowly ground my way up WHT.  From there I rode aggressive all the way to the finish with the hopes of a sub 5 hour time, but it wasn't meant to be.

Thank you to the Lord for a great day, Beth for always supporting me, and Stage21 (http://www.stage21bikes.com/), Cannondale, Cytomax, and Oakley for all of their help this year.