Zak Broussard

Lost the bottle strapped to my post on the first descent and had to replace it with Power-Ade, but luckily the cage hose-clamped to the seat tube held and that was the only real hiccup of the day. Maybe I'll get a bike that actually holds more than one bottle at some point... but I like this one. More straps next time. I wasn't aware of the dust storm going on, and apparently subconsciously leveraged my misplaced years as a smoker by failing to notice anything unusual. Spent a great deal of time thinking about how lucky we were to draw a nice cool overcast day, with the roads nicely tamped down and moist... Until it started raining on me on Duckett Ridge and proceeded to do so all the way to the Bridge of Death. Victoria must be living right - she was like 1 mile away all day and reported only a light shower, while it poured on me for half the afternoon! I wasn't on Track Leaders, but watching the radar probably would have worked...

The last climb surprised me yet again, though I've ridden it three times now. After getting over the top and seeing that sub-12 seemed reasonable I was happy for my ridiculous drop-bar / XC frame / 120mm travel concoction that I rode this time, and thoroughly enjoyed the descent. Finishing up and checking Spot to see V coming in right on my heels really capped off the day.

Everyone we ran into on the course, in the stores, etc. was pleasant as can be, as usual.

Thanks again for inspiring that ride, and I'm sure we'll be back for another swing at it before too long.