Dirt Spanker

I boarded a plane on May 20th to do a little fishing with a high school buddy in British Columbia. The next thing I know, June is almost over and I have neglected my new found social media toys. Since then, I have attended a conference in Atlanta, enjoyed a few days with my family in Myrtle Beach, and had my brother and his family stay at our house for a few days. Now, my wife has left for NM for a week leaving the kids and me to fend for ourselves. This should be interesting.

In between all of this, I missed the Afton Avalanche race but made the Dirt Spanker at Mont du Lac. The weather was perfect with the temperature in the mid 80s and the presence of a light breeze. Mont du Lac is a gorgeous location and I soon found it was a challenging course as well. The bar was open in the lodge and there appeared to be groups who camped overnight. The atmosphere was fantastic so if you plan to take your family to an MNSCS race, this would be a good choice. The volunteers were phenomenal which makes these events worth the time and money.

I had never ridden Mont du Lac and it showed. The Citizen course begins with a modest uphill. There were several crashes early on and this made things a bit difficult. Once we made the first uphill, the course transitioned into a single track with steep descents followed by steep ascents. This is where my lack of experience for the course hurt me. I could not get my gearing right and had a tough time in traffic. I would estimate there were 6-7 of these drops and climbs. I wound up walking up at least three of them. Not my best day. I did not know it at the time, but this was by far the toughest section of the course. The rest of the track was fast and moderately technical. The trails were well maintained and the riders were friendly. Unlike Erik's Cup, the field was quite a bit smaller and we became spread out quickly with very little contact with other riders. Overall, this was a very enjoyable ride once I got away from the bigger ascents. The course ended with another climb to the starting area before descending slalom style down to the lodge area.

There were four people in my age category and I placed second. I lost by nearly four minutes to a guy I beat at Erik's Cup by 90 seconds. Regardless, I enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to next year. My son and brother both attended the race. My son also participated in the Shimano Youth Series race and seemed to have a good time. The Bluff Riders Charge is next week and I have a practice run in already. I hope to get one or two more before the race. See ya.