The benefits of getting older

John Henry Maurice and I entered Race Across Oregon as a two man 50+ team named "Predator and Prey" in a bow of the head to our Furnace Creek 508 totems, Hoary Marmot and Desert Coyote. We finished the 535 mile route 18 minutes slower than when Lauren Bayard and I finished it in second place in 2010 as a two person mixed team named "Flying Aquarians". One of the benefits of getting older is despite a slower time than when I raced with Lauren, is that this was good enough for divisional first place, and a course record, also we snagged an Ultra Marathon Cycling Association 500 mile championship.

I had my digital camera along, and my GoPro, but neither ever got turned on. :-( There were many good photo opportunities, but we were racing!

We arrived in Hood River and got inspected and checked in. With cell phones at the ready some of this activity was recorded.

Getting checked in to race at the Hood River Inn

Lauren and Lorie going over the game plan

Getting a quick bite to eat just before the pre race meeting

I rode surprisingly well and was reasonably happy with my performance. I had a camera and GoPro along, but never carried them. Too bad, there were many awesome views. Snow capped peaks, coyotes on the center line just sitting there wondering what we were, owls, a beautiful full moon, the list goes on. It was a race and we were doing short pulls, there just wasn't time to be taking photos.

I'll scrounge around facebook, and beg my crew to share some of the photos they took. I'll get any of those I'm able to get, and provide a more complete ride description in the next few days.

And yes, we had fun!

2x Men 50+ RAO course record holders, and UMCA 500 mile champions

...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today...............297...........0..............0..........0............297 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July..............1032................0...............0..........0.............1032 Total...........4025.............0...............0..........0.............4025