Good Times

This weekend we went up North to help out at Lumberjack 100 and gawk at amazing mountain bike racers in the hopes that some of their "fast" would rub off on us. Floyd didn't show, but this guy did, so we had a little brush with greatness. The one thing I learned is that endurance mountain bike racers are a lot of fun to hang out with. We had an absolute blast. Mr. KissCross showered us with swag (I scored new tires, which I needed desperately), the weather was good, the trails were beautiful and we met some great people.


We worked the last shift at the aid station, so the racers who came by had been out there a long time and were eager to finish. Almost without fail, though, they were nice and very appreciative of us being there.



You know what's really cool? Meeting some super fast and nice endurance racers (like Danielle and Namrita) after spending so much time on their blogs. You know what's kind of mortifying? The fact that your husband, who's knocked back a few Founders porters, has cornered them and put them on the spot by asking them to get their picture taken with you. Even so, it was a kick for me to meet them and they were both great sports about the whole thing.

Chris and I spent the first part of the day hanging out near the trail so he could get some photos. (Some are on his Flickr page, but he took almost 500, so he's not done processing them all yet.) I amused myself while he was taking pictures by yelling encouragement at passing racers, particularly those I knew by name.

It was a good way to see the race from a different perspective, and we got a little exercise on the hike in. It sounds like one of Chris' photos may get published by Michigan Sports & Fitness, which would be pretty cool.

On a final note, our friend Anne kicked ass at the race. This is her holding up her trophy for first place in the Women's Master's division. She also came in fourth overall out of the women and knocked 1/2 hour off her time from last year. We ran into her yesterday at the Mid-State MMBA Chapter Picnic and Poker Run and what else was she doing the day after racing for 100 miles? Riding her mountain bike. I want to be hardcore like her.