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Rampage Report

Here is the race report from the Desert Rampage this past weekend.  First of all let me say the weather and course could not have been better.  I took 5th place in a BIG single speed class and couldn’t be happier with my result.  After basically taking the past 3 months off I was just hoping for a mid pack finish.  I was shocked when I finished on the podium in 5th (Beating my time on a geared bike last year by about 8 minutes) and only a couple minutes behind Rick (he is as fit as a gazelle).  That being said I suffered like a dog and my data listed below will prove that.  Big props go to Brad (2nd), and Kenny(3rd) who ride Expert class on single speeds, Mike Luper(4th) who races expert even though this was his 3rd mtn bike race, Adam(5th) who tore up a sports class full of sandbaggers, and Rick who beat me and placed 3rd in the Single-speeders.

desertrampagejpeg

Click here to see my race data (I set my GPS from the condo and included a practice lap so the distance is not correct).

Here are some photos from the race:

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Single speed podium

dsc_0082Single speed starting field

dsc_0096Rick

dsc_0098Justin

dsc_0105Adam

dsc_0103Me and that is not a smile, it is PAIN!!!


All in all it was a great time.  I learned a ton from this race when it comes to the art of racing a single speed and I will share what I learned later on this week.


This entry was posted on March 9, 2009 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Races with tags . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Rampage Report”

  1. mark Says:
    March 9, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    Sam, you’re a machine. I have no idea how you have that kind of fitness. I thought with you sitting around for three months I could hang with you early in the season. Apparently I was wrong.

  2. brkeyes7 Says:
    March 9, 2009 at 6:04 pm

    You woulda beat Rick if you were wearing the Masher jersey.

  3. Rick S. Says:
    March 9, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Sam- If you rode that fast with no training, I don’t want to race against you next time. Nice finish. Good times down there.

  4. Jason Says:
    March 9, 2009 at 8:30 pm

    Nice coming out party on the new bike, hell of a finish while knocking off some winter rust – good work!

  5. Brandon S. Says:
    March 10, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Fun to see you and others down there. Great race. You are already riding strong and fast for the year. I have a lot of ground to make up.

  6. b_banks Says:
    March 10, 2009 at 11:34 am

    Nice work man!

  7. Grizzly Adam Says:
    March 10, 2009 at 11:45 am

    I spent some of the 1st lap trying to grab your wheel, but then you vanished, and I never saw you again. That was one of those great races though. Perfect weather, huge turnout, fantastic course.

    See you at the next one!

  8. pat Says:
    March 10, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    It was a lot of fun passing the ssers who were pushing their bikes up the hill. glad to see you weren’t one of them. must be that freakish P/W ratio you got goin on.
    I guess J Dub doesnt wanna play carrot this season so Ill probably just chase you. as long as you stay on a SS I think I might have a chance.

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