This is the few I could get uploaded tonight. Many more to come - check back with us. Do you have photos from the Chadron race you'd like to share with the world? Send them to us - maybe we can add them here.
A true road-trip weekend. Over 500 miles one-way, but Ohhh was it worth it! Travel conditions were excellent Friday and Sunday. A check of course ground conditions Friday night saw rugged, but dry trails. Although the weather forecasts were not encouraging.
Teams awoke Saturday morning to chilly temps in the upper 20's - but still dry and calm. About 7:30am it started to snow. And by the 8am start, the snow had (mostly) turned to rain with an increasing wind 10-20mph out of the northwest. Hey, mother nature's antics are all part of the adventure! After a wet run through an abbreviated Section 1, we were on our bikes headed south toward the Federal Forest lands. At least we had that wind to our backs heading out of town.
Plotting map coordinates late into the night
About 20 long course teams and 7 short course teams started out just after 8am not knowing exactly what lay ahead of them. Here's a sample of our adventure.
Typical for the morning - this was April 26 - no kidding!
As the snow slowly melted off, the mud got worse. Many stretches were unrideable and became hike-a-bike
Stopping to pull some of the muddy muck out of the wheels
The mud took its toll on man and machine as evident by unusually high number of DNFs.
After the sun came out, everyone's spirits lifted a little more
Of course CPs were scattered from the lowest valley to the highest butte. We expected no less.
Worth the climb up
Post Race Awards Group Photo
Many thanks to Princess This! for contributing photos
"Keep your head on loose...and your shoes on tight!"
