The weather couldn’t have been nicer for a day the middle of August… in the middle of February. Bright sunshine broke over the hills first thing in Blue Lake Saturday morning. The touch of frost from the night before readily evaporated before I stepped foot out the door and it only got nicer from there. 41 riders signed the roster and left Mad River Brewery only a few minutes after 10. Rather than sit around and wait, I headed up to Hatchery Ridge Trails for a quick ride before the fast riders returned. The dirt up there is eerily dry for February… dusty even.

I expected the fastest riders back in under three hours, but wasn’t prepared for how much under. Taj Krieger rolled in with an elapsed time of two hours thirty-nine minutes and forty-seven seconds. That may be close to a record. Steven Pearl (on a mountain bike no less), Matt Bowman, and Jason Barnes all came in under three hours too. That’s an impressive feat by any measure. A special thanks to Charlie Caldwell who rode sweep for us and helped make sure all our riders returned safely and were accounted for.

And thanks to all riders for your patience with our last-minute route adjustment.