daMN race stages 0 to 3

STAGE 0: How can you have a stage 0? Drive 3 hours to Gary SD the week before the race. Katie rides the first leg of 34.25 and Kevin rides the second leg of 28 then drive 3 hours home. We figured it was worth the day considering we were going to ride this in the middle of the dark night. We left before 5:30 Am but it didn’t help as the temperature was 93 degrees the humidity was 70%. We both felt like dogs and were happy to drink shitty fruit wine and have pizza at the Grandview Winery on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere.

Grandview Whiskey Bar. I think Katie had a few

STAGE 1: Maybe we got to Gary a little early. Checking out bathrooms with two stools side by side

Meeting Jim Thorpe, the owner of Gary SD. Owns 4000 acres, a corn elevator, a soybean elevator, they shoot the fireworks off from his driveway, can’t believe you haven’t been here before, his Grandma was born right there in Gary in 1890, we might get an early frost,

kind of guy. The second time he came around to talk Jess faked she was cold and hid in the car.

Finally it’s midnight and Katie tears off after the first firework. I think there was at least 4.

Katie is off on her 34.25 mile leg. All the legs are close to 30 + or – 5 until Matt has to do the last 44 on his own. Katie had a flawless ride and tagged off at 2:22.

My ride of 28 miles was almost flawless until the last 5 miles when my light quit. Ah, I’ll just ride without it and see how it goes. That lasted 10 feet and then I waited for John from Rochester and asked if I could ride behind him for 5. He said sure, hop on. He saved my ass and probably my face to. When I found the rest of the team I yelled, “John you’re a fucking hero”.

STAGE 3: Jess is ready to go after faking that she was sleeping for 5 hours. Little did she know that her electronic shifting was not working. She was hardy and rode her entire ride in one speed that was frustratingly too easy which made it very hard to get any power. She came into the tag off spot and said “I just rode single speed and it wasn’t very efficient. Now what?