Tres Chaud

Today's Bluff Riders Charge in Mankato was the hottest race I ever remember being in. I know I have probably said that before, but you know what they say about racing...you need to have a short memory.
The exact numbers are difficult to say, but my car said 95 in the shade. On the side of the ski hill, who the heck knows. Combine that with 70+ degree dew points and you get the picture. Heat indexes well into the 100's. I should stop complaining now=)

Jeff Hall showed up for the first time in a long time...he had some good Euro-stories

Lucky for us, the race was only about 100 minutes because any longer would have made things a lot more difficult. From the gun Paul Hanson was going to have his way with the race. I was the only one who attempted to follow him, but my legs didn't quite have the charge I expected today. 1/2 way through the first lap I had to decide whether I wanted to blow up or ride my own race. The decision was easy, but it left me riding solo for 4.5 laps with Jeff Hall, Fisher and others a little ways back. I was only down 1 minute going into the fourth lap and ended up over 2 minutes down. There isn't much else to say other than that Paul was flying up the climbs and put on an impressive "pro" show. I was happy with second on a day like this and the strongest man won. Fisher put in a strong ride and came in 3rd. It is great to see him killing it again. Ben suffered but hung in there and refused to DNF. That isn't easy when it is hot and the legs aren't there.
All of the pics are from Paul's Dad, Thanks!

A new gnarly part of the course call "Quick Release"

Seeing exactly how hard I have to go on the last lap...no other experts in sight=)

Having way too much fun during awards.
There is a couple week break now from weekend racing....I wonder what the next race will be? I can tell you that it will be an important one for me...and 3 others=)