Battle the Bore.. or was it Bear?

Ahhh.. the Bear.  Bear Creek park, a test of dirt road riding, savagely open and tame meadows, lung-trusting climbs, and the most technical descents an 80-year old on a hybrid could handle.  Lets not forget the scenery.  Set in an open meadow outside of Denver, still far enough away from the mountains as to not discourage the altitude-reluctant and technical-averse roadies from showing up, Bear Creek unfolds with spectacular views of hills to the West, where someone may encounter mountain bike trails, the beautiful traffic fiasco known as Denver to the East, and a man-made reservoir, or shall we call it the Beer Pond, worthy of even the highest grade of midwestern hilljack, and the lowest grade of beer, diseased fish and flatbottom boats, right on site!!  Man, what a wonderful place.  And in case one lap of the 10-mile loop weren't enough to seal the deal, the "deal" being one made with race organizers in which you trade legal tender for the promise of 4 hours of pain and saddle rash and disguised by the coolers of free beer at the finish line as being a good time, we would do 6.  If there ever were any real bears that lived here, I'm sure they got bored and left.  In retrospect, maybe I should have shown up with a fiberglass canoe and a case of Schlitz.

Instead, I came to race mountain bikes.  Being one of the stops of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series I was persuaded (apparently by people who were reluctant to tell me how stupid a race it was) to do this race, after winning the last event (SS Open).  In my commitment to the uninspired, I passed up two real mountain bike races, both set at great venues.  The first weekend that they tried this race, which got cancelled midway through the first lap as the rain poured - the two trees on site tried valiantly to fend off the onslaught of heavy rain, but lost - and trails muddied, there was a Mountain States Cup race in Salida, CO, which was surely a "real" mountain bike race.  The reschedule was the day after a race at Buffalo Creek (don't get Bear and Buffalo confused; Bear meat tastes like rotting dog anus, Buffalo is delicious.) which happens to be a favorite venue of folks around here.

Race recap: I got my ass kicked by some faster riders.  Well, that's not the whole story, but is a good lesson to learn; a healthy acknowledgement of defeat.  In reality I hung with the lead group of 4 riders, me being 5th, for the first lap and some of the second.  This lead group included some pros, ex-pros, and a pesky squirrel.  At the start of the second lap I assumed the lead after a short intense climb, for all of 15 seconds, until pro Cameron Chambers showed his open meadow prowess and took off, followed by two others.  I tried to keep up, but hindered by a small unit (by unit I mean gear inches, but other references may apply), I sat back, legs spinning out of control, watching the others disappear into the smog.  From that point on I was largely on my own.  So the rest of the race it was a story of being swallowed up by riders who apparently figured out that with the addition of multiple cogs, coupled with some other foreign devices which allow for positioning the chain on said cogs, you can go faster.  I think they were cheating, but didn't get the chance to look at the rule book after the race amid pouring multiple beers down my throat.  I was dehydrated.

Thinking about what shade of white I would paint my room with.

In all seriousness though, I learned a few things.  First, I need to get stronger and be able to push a bigger gear if I want to compete with the top riders at venues like this.  Second, I won't ever compete at venues like this again.  Third, squirrels are fast, but are not endurance-oriented athletes.