Well it wasn't a race but a group of friends riding the Kokopelli Trail - so the BLM officials who showed up to the start were told. They didn't buy it and dished out a $275 ticket to Adam for organizing an event on BLM land without a permit. With that slap on the wrist most of us set off at midnight. 65 starters and 35-ish finishers.
It was a warm night. The jacket, arm warmers and knee warmers I had in my bag did not get touched. We had a super nice tail wind and clipped right along to Dewey Bridge 45 minutes faster than my race plan crossing the bridge at 7:15am. I spun out the first half with FredW and Jeremy. Both have a nice smooth spin and set a good tempo pace. I let them go ahead before Dewey Bridge while I slowed up to eat, change my lens and do some morning business.
After Dewey Bridge I put on my mp3 and picked it up for the second half - my favorite part. The climbs were sandy and hot. I love the heat but even I had one little meltdown and ended up on my back in the shade for a few minutes. Shortly after that a rainshower cooled everything off.
I drank about twice the water I planned on. The day before we scouted the water holes so I knew where to pick up extra - no problem.
I didn't carry a camera so here are some super shots I poached from ssperl - thanks!
Yellow Jacket just after dawn looking up towards the La Sal Mountains and where we are headed. I love this part of the trail so planned my break here to linger and admire the view a little. SSperl caught it nicely on film. From this point on it is climbing, climbing (have I mentioned I like to climb ;-)
Up above everything looking down now after about 5 hours of solid climbing.
Once passed Dewey Bridge the tailwind wasn't much of a factor. I hit my race plan splits dead on and rolled into Slickrock at 3:06 pm. That was good for 5th across the finish line and 1st woman in. Kenny was a couple of minutes ahead and Jason a couple of minutes behind so we had a tight little bunch at the end.
Results went something like this:
Dave Weins 12:45, Jesse 13:19, Brian?, Kenny 15:04, me 15:06, Jason 15:09, ChrisP 15:?. Cat Morrison was the second place female finisher in 18:30. Folks trickled in all the way until midnight. A large group finished together with smiles at 8:47pm.
No records were broken. My finish time 15:06 was three minutes off my time from last year of 15:03. Dave Weins won in 12:45, four minutes shy of the 12:41 course record set last year by Dave Harris.
Collar bone: Solid as a rock. I'm back in action!
Almost as fun as the race was hanging out at slickrock after meeting the later finishers and hanging out with the support crew. I got to meet some great new folks in person I have known only in the online form.
Itty Bitty Betty finished in 23:10 on a singlespeed to become the first ever female SS KTR finisher - awesome job!
Itty Bitty Betty, LyndaW and brg. Check it out - I am the tallest :-)
So now I've done KTR in both directions. I think I've done it. Time for new obsessions...
Wesley had a non-race event too this weekend. He did the Tuff Kids Triathlon. This was a non-timed, non-competitive event. Just a group of kids getting together for a fun swim, bike and run. Wesley is in the orange shorts getting chicked on the run by a gal in blue shorts. These kids are not racing - rrrrright.
