Stinger Buzz

Nate Bird courtesy ActionPhotographic.com

The night before the 2009 Laramie Enduro was more than a bit ominous and foreboding as a novel would start out. Having joined a lot of other Steamboaters at a more than gracious local’s house for a nice carb-loading pasta dinner, I made my way to the trailhead to camp with the Honey Stinger mascots (my dogs) the night before the race. Practically hydroplaning the entire way from Laramie to the trail, I felt as if I were on the East Coast heading into a hurricane. Needless to say, I was not that psyched for the next day’s 70 mile adventure on my 31st birthday. I almost had a minor breakdown trying to prepare camp in the back of my truck with my gear, my bike, my two dogs all while trying not to get absolutely soaked.

The next morning, I awoke to clear skies. The race went off at 7AM in some nice weather and a very large pretty stacked field. I went off towards the front, but didn’t push it too hard. Within about 20 miles I had caught up the the lead paceline (with places 1-3 farther ahead, I never did see them). We all worked together really well and reeled in a lot of riders. After the long fireroad fast climb, I linked up with friend and Team DEAN (sponsored by Honey Stinger) rider Scott McCalmon. The two of us hit the singletrack treating it as a fun ride and quickly ditched the other 15 or so riders that were with us. We never really saw anyone again, save for a few for the rest of the race. It was a long fun race, so much of it seemed to be so remote and true backcountry riding, it was great. I felt great most of the way with the usual lulls in some spots, but recovering well using the feeds. I flatted at about mile 50 and Scott took off, I got my tire to reseal with a CO2 and continued on quickly. I eventually caught Scott and was headed towards the last long climb feeling confident and strong in 4th place. In hindsight, I should’ve put a tube in the first flat, because I went flat again. Not the best place into the race to flat, and to add to my frustration the first tube I put in was bad, making it a super long flat change. By that point I was in 8th and that’s how I finished. I was in the strange spot of being angry and happy with my result all at once. But happy to be top ten and 3rd in my age group for a podium in the WY Marathon Championships.

All in all it was a great day for team Honey Stinger/Trek. Teammate Pete Kalmes had a strong race, beating me and finishing in 5th place overall. Rose Alford took 12th overall in the pro/open category for a nice finish as well. Honey Stinger sponsored rider of MOOTS Kelly Boniface took 2nd place overall and 1st in her category, Scott McCalmon of Team DEAN ended up fifth, Jen Wilson took 1st in singlespeed and her husband David Wilson garnered a podium as well in 3rd for men’s singlespeed.