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| Hammerschlagen |
I think the biggest twist was the hammerschlagen. In between each lap you had to hammer a nail into a board in order to pass go and begin your next lap. I had a hard time with this, it was almost like a duathlon, just when you get done climbing this giant hill you turn and sprint to the bottom then hammer a nail. It was a challenge and made things interesting.
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| My dude and I getting ready for the start |
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| Gooo!!!! |
Unfortunately last weeks snow melted with some rain during the week and left the single track a mess. So the course was made up of entirely cross country ski trail. This time of year that is just the way it goes. That makes a course that favors someone who is in good shape and can turn a big chainring.
Currently I am not that person... Spent too much time drinking beers and hunting deer, instead of grinding gears the last couple months. So my plan was to start hard, hold on to the top guys as long as possible, then back off and save some for the end.
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Everything went to plan, I got a really good start. Hung out with the lead 3 guys for a lap or two then backed off. When I backed off two guys got by, but I was able to get one back on the last lap for 5th overall.
Like I said earlier, it was obvious that the promoters of this series really wants it to succeed. I was really impressed with the prizes, the turn out, the smooth registration, the timely results, the free beer, and the not so typical bike race routine.
