Our local mountain bike racing series continued on Sunday. The event was the 2nd Annual Masons Midsummer Meltdown. An annual fundraiser led by Cliff Jones to help raise money to build more fabulous trails out at Wyandotte County Lake Park. With the help of all the Masons volunteers, another fine event was held out at shelter #3. Heather Jordan was once again the Chief USAC Official.
Most of the fast local riders toed the line for the gravel road start. Garet Steinmetz, Travis Donn, Tige Lamb, Doug Stone, Marc Thierry and Griffin Hamilton just to name a few.
A nice size single speed field on the day. Last year I took home a 2nd place trophy. This year that task would be more difficult due to the 20 extra pounds I put on with a strength training program that got out of hand. I asked Cliff if he had a Women's SS class or at least one for long hair folk, but he said I did not qualify due to excessive hair on my legs! After a quick check I agreed.
The MMM was Christopher's first mountain bike race of the year and his first Category 2 event. Last year he won the Junior division. He quickly learned that success at Cat 2 requires a little more saddle time. I told him to just wait till he reaches that Cat 1 division. Then he will find out what commitment means.
Sally Urdang continued her winning ways on the Meltdown. This time she took a convincing win over Krista Pollman and Alyssa Hetrick. It is good to see some women out enjoying racing their mountain bikes.
Our teammate Shane Martin stood once again on the top spot. He had a good battle in the Men's
19-29 class with Hogan Matson. Shane attacked on the gravel hill climb to open enough of a gap to win in the fastest Cat 3 time of the day - 41:45. I will have to talk to Shane about his upgrade path. He is flying!
Tim Greene sat this event out and worked with the Midwest Mountain Bike Patrol to make sure everyone was safe on the day. Tim crashed his road bike recently and was recovering from the injuries that he sustained. I told Tim those road bikes are dangerous but he did not listen to me.
The MMM has Meltdown in it's name because of our usual high temps in July. While it was still hot on Sunday and plenty of fluids were required the weather Gods shined on Wyco and we were blessed with mid 80's and the rain on Saturday night missed the trails.
Garet Steinmetz put the hammer down on Sunday and crushed the field on the climbs. Garet has always been a great climber and that showed on the Oz climb where he set a KOM time.
Local off-road endurance legend Travis Donn showed he also has the speed as he won the Male 30-39 division and kept his Ethos teammate honest the entire day.
The winning ways continued for my good friend Tige Lamb. His form is on and he took home a nice payday winning the Men's Cat 1 40-49 division. Tige is heading off to PA for this months USA Cycling Championship. I predict he will do well this year.
Good ole Doug Stone once again proved that 26er technology is not dead. Sure it required a little more effort but a 2nd place on the day proved it is the rider more than size of your tire.
How much torque is required to snap a crank arm? Just ask local trail Mason and Cow Town member Shane Jones. He snapped off his crank on one of those deceptively long climbs at Wyco.
Even though it was not that hot on Sunday I rode a tempo pace that I knew I could finish without having heat issues. That pace was only good for 4th place on the day. This might just have been my last Single Speed race. I really missed gears on a couple of those climbs. You need good fitness to stay on top of the gear and climb well on a single speed. I just don't have it this year.
It was good to see Sean Burns on Sunday. He rolled the course on one of his custom built rigs. Hopefully I can ride with Sean later this month when I head out to his new home state of Colorado.
Scott Lillis crushed the Men's Cat 2 40-49 field and was the 2nd fastest overall Cat 2 time of the day in 1:25. I see a Cat 1 upgrade in the not to distance future for Scott. His speed on the bike is really improving quickly and his results have proven it.
My teammate Jeff Arnaud did very well placing 2nd in the Men's Cat 2 30-39 division. Now if we can only get Jeff's helmet adjusted correctly...
Gerard put in his final training ride for the upcoming Breckenridge B-32. Good luck Gerard and be sure to bring your oxygen mask.
Christopher finished the day in 4th place. A poor first lap and a half cost him. We will have to work on his pre-race diet. He has very good bike handling skills and now knows he needs to train to be able to compete in the upper division. The days of just showing up and winning are over. The question is does he have that desire?? I told him is o.k. if he does not. Just riding is fine.
Carolynn was out taking photos. Check the rest of them out in the
2014 Masons Midsummer Meltdown Album
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