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Keyesville Worst Expert? |
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Written by Mark Logrbrinck
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
20th Annual Keyesville Classic
March 15 & 16, 2008
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Let’s see…..I am thinking of calling this one the “Worst Expert”. I did not read the rules but the “all mountain category” is all experts lumped together, no age divisions. Doh!!! I woulda raced on my single-speed had I known this. Last is last. My momma always said there are winners and losers son. She did not say anything else.
Lets get the race details over. Dowhill, last, Short-track, last, and finally Cross-Country (my specialty), last. Consistent and lots of ad time for Bikeman.com, the slower the bill-board, the more readers. Something like that.
On to the event. The Keyesville Classic is like a high school reunion, just more fun. I started racing in 1995, took 1996 off and raced in Keyesville in 1997. Wile E. was a year old. I got 1st in the downhill. I was hooked. Years later older fatter, thinner, wiser? Who cares? That’s why they call them “classics”, if you are lookin’ for a fun race do not look elsewhere.
I was getting ready on Thursday night before the weekend. I get a mysterious call, mainly because I do not get calls, it is PhotoJohn of MTBR.com and Photographyreview.com. He is a great photographer and better friend. I do not call a lot a people “friends”, but John Shafer is. We do not email each other, call or even send smoke signals. Hell even when we passed through Salt Lake City, I did not even call, mainly cuz I new the bastard would not answer. Aaah friends, priceless.
I get to Keyesville on Friday mid-morning before a lot of folks. I snag a great area, one minutes walk to the start and the race course cuts right through the site. One thing I like about Keyesville is the luck of the draw at a camp-site. Meaning early bird gets the worm. Old campsites are just reminders of days past. I can remember the first year, Hale-Bopp (I hope that is right), was all the rage. You know comets and their allure. It’ll be great if I can hold on to most of the real estate. So I got a good spot and waited for people to show up. The first was Mark Jordan, he works for Decline Magazine. Then PhotoJohn showed up, followed by his buddy Alan Davis. He works at Bike Magazine. I got to meet other cool folks, Dane Zafke from WTB, Roman Roth the photographer, Paul Morningstar of Morningstar Tools, and Brad Cannella from another online retailer.
It was fun to meet everyone and rekindle old friendships. Keyesville is all about having fun. I forgot to mention that I am 2 for 2 at races where it snows. Oh yeah and if you really want to see the pros racing, go out and race with them. Thanks to SSFTA for putting on the event. Totally non-profit, do not see that often. Bionicon Bikes was the big sponsor, their bikes are cool looking, kind of all-mountain. They are just a lot different, the jury is still out, good guys though. A good time was had by all. Later,
Tex
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; "click to enlarge")
