Dirty 30

Dirty 30 Race Report, from Dennis Mudd.

Temps were cool and foggy, perfect conditions for the Dirty 30.   Jeff Jacobson,  Bryan and Monica Taylor and I were there representing the te
I figured with Ken Winston out with foot surgery this might be my best chance for a win in the 55+ open category.  The old dudes and Big Boned category started together.   One other gray-haired rider and I fairly quickly separated from the pack and went back and forth the whole way.  We were within a few seconds of each other until the last 10 minutes or so of the race.   I pulled away on the Martha’s downhill, and thought I was home free for the win but he caught up and passed me on the final climb up Cardiac.   I gave it everything I had, passed him back, and didn’t look behind me until the final stretch to the finish line.  He was out of sight and I cruised to the win.  A thrilling win, that became only slightly less thrilling when I found out later he was in the Big Boned category.   
 
JJ had a great race.  Here’s his summary -  The entire expert field started off together and I was lined up somewhere in the middle. There was a lot of bumping and positioning on the super-fast downhill start and a bottleneck ensued on the first steep climb causing everyone but the leaders to stack up and dismount. Argh. After a run up the hill, the next mile of downhill was fast with some sketchy off-camber loose corners. The racer in front of me washed out on the last loose corner and I went over his back wheel and off the trail, but managed to stay upright.   After that sketchy start, it was a two-hour mix of fire roads, technical single track, and 3,800 feet of lung busting climbs. Bryan Taylor, a new team member this year, stayed just in sight ahead of me for two laps, pulling several other riders behind him. I caught up with him on the final long climb and he shared some electrolytes.  I finished 3rd in Expert 49+ behind the legend Johnny O'Mara and Neil Rintuil from Ranchos.
 
Bryan finished 7th in a tough field of 37-49 expert competitors.  Monica took a hard spill, but still finished 2nd in the expert female class.

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