To Fort Custer we did go....

On Sunday, May 3, 2009, Jay, my daughter Paiten, my youngest son Nolan, Kim, Stu and myself went State side for a XC race at Fort Custer (near Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo) Michigan. The time of departure EARLY, 5:00 am, according to Mapquest it was going to take approx. 3.5 hours. For the past couple of years I have added this race to my schedule. The turnout is always big with this year’s attendance reaching 450 (+) racers. The MMBA (Michigan Mountain Bike Association) is the promoter of the event. Your fee included the race, a beer after (if chosen and of age!), hot dogs, hamburgers, H2O, apples, bananas…. Perhaps that’s why the turnout is so good. The course flows nicely with a combo of double track and single track (80% the later). I must not forget the water crossing toward the end of each lap. This year the water level was higher then in the past and coming in with speed made for a big splash and a mouth full of water (yum!). Luckily the weather was beautiful and the water crossing was refreshing! On to the race….. Well I showed up with a borrowed bike from The Bicycle Shop (thanks Len), a Scott Spark. Jay had it dialed in for me and the weight just under 22 lbs…, that’s what I call a light full suspension!!! Race time was 10:00 am, with Stu leading off with the elite men and Kim and I with the Elite/Expert women. As the women made there way to the staging area I saw a familiar face, Shari Versluis (another mother of 4!!). We met at Iceman, and the after party (oh did we party). The Elite/Expert women race boasted 11 racers! At go I grabbed the holeshot with Erin Disterheft hot on my wheel. She made a pass on me on the first lap about ¼ the way through. The race was fun, the course was great, I felt good and the bike was sweet. It rode like a hardtail, nice and stiff with the benefits of full suspension. So in the end Erin took first, I came in 2^nd just over a minute after. Kim took a strong 6^th and as for Stu well, got lost on the course, caught back up then blew out his brand new fork and had to pull himself from the race and resorted back to cheering section! I took in a quick recovery and biked over to the family where Nolan stood with a big grin on his face sporting a medal! He raced the kid’s race and won for his age group. (The medal was a permanent fixture around his neck for a couple of days, including going to school) He was so proud; in fact he even let me wear it!! Jay and Paiten took in a fun lap of the course. After our share of ice cream treats we packed up and headed home.

To Fort Custer we did go, and to Fort Custer we’ll go back!!

Cheers,

Sue

(Thanks Stu for the pics, and to Pak please be patient the posts are coming (lol) ;) )