Team GoLite Multisport
Firecracker 50 Marathon Mountain Bike National
Championships – Breckenridge, CO
July 4th, 2009
A holiday weekend and racing are great combinations, and we were excited to head up to Breckenridge, CO for the Marathon Mountain Biking National Championships at this year’s Firecracker 50 rac e. With 50 miles of grueling trail, the Firecracker always presents a huge challenge to even the best of mountain bikers. The course yields over 10,800 feet of elevation gain, with an average elevation well over 10500 feet, testing legs and lungs alike. Steep
climbs, screaming down hills, rocky terrain, and sweeping single track combine to make this one of the biggest races of the year. All the competition showed up, as the National Championships were on the line.
Brooks took off first, taking part in one of the first waves to lead out the town’s 4th of July Parade. Breckenridge takes this event to the next level, giving the racers celebrity status as they lead the parade, giving out high-fives to the little kids, and then veering off to the trail systems. Crowds lined the streets and cheered as the cyclists streamed by. Tiffanie’s wave headed down Main Street soon after, and the long day in the saddle began. Fighting through lines of racers and diving between people on single track, the race began to spread out as the race went on. Brooks held on despite the mud and some cramping on the second lap for a clean finish, proving stronger than last year and ascending the podium with an impressive 5th place finish in a very tough field of Men’s Open 30-34. Tiffanie, pushing through a flat tire in the final miles, sailed into the finish line in 1st place for her division Women’s Open 19-29, giving her the stars & stripes jersey and crowned National Marathon Mountain Bike Champion in her division for 2009.
Stay tuned for more – the race season is just getting into top gear!
No comments:
Post a Comment