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September 27, 2008 The No Knuckle Crew heads to the Pain on the Plains.  For our group this was a 9 mile loop at the Palo Duro Canyon.  Dirk and Joe V were competed in the Category 3 - 19-29, while Andy and I competed in the Category 3 - 30-39.  That’s right we are the old ones.  But from what I saw at the race, age means nothing.  I had guys that were in the Cat 2 and Cat 1 classes that were 50+ passing me like I was crawling along, which I was.  Those guys were on 18 or 27 mile loops while I was on my 4th or 5th mile.  Gotta give it to them.

A mile into the race I was in third place and while ascending a hill I shifted the wrong direction (inexperience) and my chain came slidi

ng off as I went crashing down on the top tube.  Luckily this was a race and I was motivated to get it fixed and get back on

the trail, had it been one of my Sunday strolls at the Canyon, I believe I would have curled up in the fetal position and had a nice cry for about 30 minutes, then requested to be life flighted out of there to make sure I had not ruptured both of the boys.  I ended up regaining a few places, back to 6th place with Shae Webb (Lubbock) on my tail for quite a while.  He passed me going into the last few miles and I made a dash for the finish line once we hit the home stretch.

With my legs on fire and wanting to collapse, I crossed the finish line 5 seconds in front of Shae and took 6th place until a protest in the 4th and 5th place spot moved me to 7th.  Seven out of Fifteen is not shabby but I am hooked on the races and will be working to

improve.  Which I did at the Chain Breaker in Lubbock.  That is another story.

Final Places for the No Knuckle Crew are as follows:

Dirk (Hollywood) - 1st - Cat 3 - 19-29
Joe V (Mr. Rugged) - 3rd - Cat 3 - 19-29
Ethan (No Name Yet) - 7th - Cat 3 - 30-39
Andy (Cinnamon) - 10th - Cat 3 - 30-39

Way to go NO KNUCKLE!

Keep pedaling,

E