[HOser]

Great fun as always! Good weather, sunny and hot. Very dry course, very dusty. I continued to cough up brown crap all weekend after the race. Most importantly, thanks to all the volunteers! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I got pretty much the same result as last year, a little over 5 1/2 hours, and middle of Sport Men 30-34. Was hoping for better, but I had lots of fun, and came out injury free, so I met 2 of 3 goals at least.

Somehow I managed to ride through the mud pits on both laps without putting a foot down. But, I saw somebody ride way off course to avoid them, which honestly, pissed me off (and I'm really easy going in general). STAY ON COURSE, people! Muddy tires or shoes never hurt anybody! :madmax: On the plus side, I didn't see as much litter on the 2nd lap this time as compared to last year, despite having so many more bikes on course. But, there was some junk out there - most disturbing of all with the inner tube on the downhill section back to Carter Park, that likely was intentional.

Here's what I really want to know. Who accepted the "Wild Turkey Challenge"? This should count as a 5 minute bonus, at least. Maybe we need a poll for this...

 

[HAL 9000]

Here's what I really want to know. Who accepted the "Wild Turkey Challenge"?

As I was going out on the second lap there were TWO single speed guys stopped taking some wild turkey handups

 

[HOser]

I wouldn't expect any less from a SSer! They probably needed it to dull the pain a bit, starting up Boreas Pass a second time is pretty grim, even with gears.

 

[HAL 9000]

had a great time at the firecracker 50 for a Houston flat lander the Lil' lady and i decided to do the team thing after our pre-ride the odds of us doing the whole 50 didn't look so good with the combo of the altitude and climbing and distance mixed in with my lack of any endurance/marathon racing experience i'm just a XC race weenie. i just got this e-mail of me post-race i felt like someone had beat me with a meat tenderizer i can't imagine what going up french gulch woulda been like a second time :bluefrown: anyone who did two laps of that course has my deepest respect.

 

[calvinjp]

Well it was my first firecracker and I got my butt kicked, but I did accept the turkey challenge, plus some nice lady handed me a beer when I was headed out on the second lap too.

 

[Stefan_G]

No Wild Turkey challenge for me. Maybe next year though... Think alcohol would help prevent cramping?

After wanting to shoot myself in the head during last year's second lap, I forced myself to hold back during this year's 1st lap to save some gas in the tank for #2. Then I started to pick up the pace on the second lap, but must not have been fueling right because I cramped up about halfway through and had to walk it off for a few minutes. I thought it was over for me, but amazingly the cramps went away and I was able to still ride pretty strong to the finish turning in a time of 4h31m. Not the 4h20m I was hoping for, but good enough for 11th of 26 in the Open 30-34 division.

I definitely had a lot more fun this year, mostly because I ran a 29" Rampage at 28psi up front so I didn't get the sh!t kicked out of me on the gnarly descents this time around. Jeff Kerkove and I must have passed/repassed one another 10 times during the race. It got to be quite amusing actually - especially since I had never met him before the race.

One thing I do need to practice is lubing my chain while riding. I saw one guy doing it the second time up Boreas Pass, and wished I had tried it instead of stopping. I almost always get 50+ miles out of a lube job, but the mud/water/dust combo of the firecracker had my chain making all kinds of noise before even finishing the 1st lap!

Great job to all the finishers of that race - it's a burly one!

 

[HAL 9000]

anyone know where we can get photos of the race ?

 

[TheNeil]

The photos seem to be at www.biggrins.com. You have to click on "Keystone - Summer" and then on July 4th for the Action Date.

It doesn't look like you can just enter your number though.

Great race though. The cramp monsters came and got me, but I pushed through and finished, although way beyond my goal. But I guess if you look at it as Pass/Fail, I passed.

 

[HOser]

Here's a few (great thread too):
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=429775

 

[IttyBittyBetty]

Wild Turkey Challenge

I did the Wild Turkey Challenge on my second lap. I felt so crappy anyway, I figured it couldn't make me feel any worse!

Anyway, that race was brutal. I did it this year on my SS and I suffered. Check out my full race report. here.

 

[HOser]

Nice report Betty! Outstanding job on the single!!! Are you bringing your SS to Laramie again this year?

 

[IttyBittyBetty]

No Laramie for me this year

I'm racing the Adventure XStream 24 Hour adventure race up in Summit County that weekend with my team Git Some! We've been doing the entire series and are placed well in the results (although not as well as Stefan's team, Eolus!). Anyway, I'll miss the Enduro, cause it's a FUN FUN race, but I can't be in two places at once and I LOVE 24 hour (and longer) adventure races.

Thanks for the compliments on the Firecracker. I think the 24 hour race in Summit County will be easier!

 

[XC62701]

I'll give my shortened report:

I flew out from Jersey to do the race with my bro and probably could have used a couple more days to acclimate to the elevation. I did the Breck race as day 5 of my west trip and I knew I was in trouble in the parking lot. My HR was over 100 just chilling in the lot. Not good... The altitude just sucked the life out of me. The climbs were tough and I just couldn't put any power down. I got through the first lap alright and slugged my way through the second lap to finish. I was happy just to cross the finish line. I finished DFL in my category Open 19-29 and gained a lot of race memories. I'm already planning round 2 for next year...