RGO race report

Friday night it went down, and it was awesome. We met at the back of GAS around 5:15p. By the time most all riders were there, we loaded up 3 trucks and shuttled up to the top of Baldy. Luckily the rain and thunder passed. We had 17 riders at top. 2,200' plunge in 6.9mi back to town. As the start hat was dropped to the ground, a bunch of us stood up out of the saddle and began hammering down this gnarly, boulder-strewn excuse of a jeep road. After the first half mile or so, the top DHers Kirk, Troy, Frank and Soller all flatted. I eased up on the speed and figured I just needed to descend down to the pavement on Baldy Rd. without flatting, then I would still be in medal contention. As I neared the bottom I also passed Neil who had flatted. On Baldy Rd I flew by Dan and was cautiously heading to the start of Juniata Trail. There I was riding solid and stopped at the Juniata bridge for the mandatory 12oz PBR gulp. After a few swigs it was done, and I was back on the trail. Crossing Baldy Rd to the connector, my confidence was soaring as I crossed the street again and hit the Moonstone section. I know that trail so well, I was quickly catching the guy in front of me. Soon it was down to Carter Park, and there the dog park screwed me as I had to go far north and detour around the Pavilion and tennis courts to get back to the ball fields and French St. There, it was the long metal staircase, then across LaCima parking lot to the peanut gallery. This was surely the highlight of the race. As I rolled across Ridge St and saw Ryan spotting everyone, I then saw a huge crowd of about 50 people gathered by Empire Burger, ready to watch the skilled riders gap the stairs. Since I knew I was in medal contention (and more so since I didn't want to wad it up in front of the spectators), I pre-jumped the stairs and landed smooth, to the extreme disappointment of the crowd. From there I crossed Main and headed down behind Dippin Dots to the next metal staircase down to Rasta Pasta. From there we headed near the Riverwalk, behind Jalapenos, across Ski Hill, then down the covered brick bridge across the Blue, then on the alley behind the art show, and from there on the path back to the shop. I passed Ray as I dove under French St on the path, and he went above. I managed 3rd place, pretty good for xc guy amongst the downhillers. Unfortunately I missed a medal by one spot. Super cool pirate Chinese downhill race. One of the better nights on bikes with a bunch of great riders. Great to ride such a huge downhill, from an epic start gate at the top of Baldy.