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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2011 Wrap

The 2011 M4 is in the books.

About 15 riders showed up at 7am to start the first laps in the dark. By 7:30 dawn had broken the horizon and lights were no longer needed.  5 of us were solo riders and the rest were the first riders for their teams. Two tents were set up and the boys from Coleman teased all of us by cooking hash browns and eggs on a camp stove.  Ruth from the Bicycle Pedaler made a surprise visit and left us some chairs, water jugs and energy bars and homemade treats.

The wind started out of the south but rotated to the north as the day progressed.  It was sunny and pleasant, especially compared to last year’s 30 mph sustained winds and 40 degree weather.  Most of us were in short sleeves by 9am.

Aaron North's fiancĂ© took over 250 photos and I hope to have some posted here soon.  At one time there were 40 plus cars in the parking lot as riders not associated with the M4 shared the trail with us.  In fact, I saw some cars with bikes on the back slow at the approach to Miller's and drive on past shaking their heads.  Two idiots rode without helmets and got an earful from Tim Miller as we passed them.  After one lap they left.

Casualties:  Brent Dodds wrecked on lap 2 and cracked his helmet.  Luckily his head is so hard that the helmet was ornamental to begin with and no lasting damage was sustained to his melon.  Aaron Sevrin cracked his fork when passing in high grass and discovering large chucks of hidden concrete.  Several other riders encounter the various bleeding legs and other body parts that comes with kissing and hugging trees by accident. 

After the ride, the parking lot was clean, with no trash and no sign that an event has been held.  Paula Stout wrote a nice article and mentioned the ride.  You can find it at:  http://www.examiner.com/mountain-biking-in-wichita/100-miles-of-dirt-on-the-ground-how-to-prepare-for-a-dirt-century

All in all I enjoyed the day, if you can call suffering for 10 hours enjoyable. 


Aaron
Complectus Dolor
"Embrace the Suffering"



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