Fireweed

Last Saturday I caught a ride out to Sheep Mountain Lodge for the start of the Fireweed 100 road race with my old friend Tony Brugliera and his teammate Matt Novakovich. The race started fast for me and straight out of the gates we were climbing. After 10 minutes I was spit out the back of the first group and seemed to be working in vain to catch back up. Luckily for me, a few riders caught up with me and we worked together and caught back up with the lead group at the 50 mile turnaround.

On the way back we rode into a slight headwind and, along with the fact that we were tiring a bit, we had quite a bit of climbing to do. They were the kind of climb that you can see for a few miles before you get there and you have to try to not let that get you down. On the last big hill a few of the riders in our group kept a pace that split the rest of us up. There was a flat section and then it was downhill to the finish. Big Ed Sniffen was up ahead and I stood up to sprint downhill and try to close the gap but the finish line came too soon.

I ended up finishing 10th of 62 starters in the men's field with a time of 4:40:39. I was satisfied and had a good time keeping up with fellow racers. I'm only a little bummed that I was too focused to take in any of the amazing scenery.