"I Love GOOOLD"

Well, I have to start off by saying the Gold Diggers cheerleaders at the start line was a first.

I didn't win the Golden Bike, but I won my third big rock and my third piece of bike furniture!

In the end it was Myself and Mike Anderson. Watch out for that kid....he's only twenty and was 3rd last year at Iceman and now 2nd at O2S.

We started off the trip Friday morning with a fully loaded Hyundai team car. We arrived to Marquette in time to see all the regulars in the parking lot telling war stories of sand, rain to come, and gear ratios, chain rings, tire pressure etc.....

My pre-ride went well and then it was off to the Pasta Shoppe with Tristan, Jamie, and the new baby. That place is the secret to racing fast in MQT. Mmmm

We crashed at the Holiday Inn and had a delicious buffet breakfast in the morning. Doug was drinking coffee creamer for power....

The race started fast on the pavement with Lummis and the Tandem trading pulls. I made it to the first climb in 3rd on Doug's wheel. We crested to first climb with 5 or 6 riders, but then sat up....the group swelled. It must have been 70 riders strong through Ishpeming....an Ore To Shore 1st. Lummis picked up the pace parallel to the train tracks followed by Tristan. We hit the power climbs at 8 miles in and Mike A. got a gap. I waited a split second and then went around Doug and bridged. By the time I made contact with Mike we had about 15 seconds. I took the lead at the next section, put my head down and went. Mike and I traded pulls for a while and that was all she wrote. The Fuel was flawless the entire race and we ended up 5 minutes ahead of number 3.

Other race notes.....Andrea was 8th in the womens field one spot better than last year! I was bummed that Simonson and J. Lalonde didn't make the race....the competition was the strongest yet at O2S, but without those guys a little something was missing.

Thanks to all the O2S volunteers and staff for putting on a great race. Thanks to all my sponsors especially Gear Grinder, Trek, and Hyundai. And finally thanks to Lorin and Trish Riutta who provided the pictures and showed us the top secret new trails in Ishpeming Sunday morning!