The family and I left for Boyne Thursday afternoon ready for weekend of racing, playing in the waterpark, and maybe even some relaxing. I was pretty nervous about the race because last year 3 laps pretty much destroyed me and this year I was doing 4! Friday I went out to ride the course and was quickly reminded of what climbing was about. There are 3 hills (Climb Time, Stairway, and Uh Oh) in the first 4 miles that are ridiculously steep. I walked 2 of them as I didn’t want to kill myself, yet. The middle of the course is awesome with some good climbs, but nothing crazy. The craziness starts at about 8 miles and continues for the next 2-2.5 miles. Go up, turn, repeat. As I finished my lap I was not too excited to see that the course was 11.5 miles, which is about 1 mile longer than last year!
The morning of the race the weather was very nice, maybe even a little too warm, but not too bad. The 29 and under group only had 3 riders, so the 30-39 group started with them. At the start a couple of the “youngsters” took off and I sat in behind them. I followed pretty close for about half a lap and then decided it was a little fast and backed off, as it was going to be a long race. I had a couple of guys quickly catch up to me, but they were content to ride behind me as they were trying to conserve some of their energy. They finally passed and I made no effort to stay with them as I was confident I was going to see them later in the race. I finished the first lap in 56 minutes, which was a little fast but I felt great and ready for lap #2. Lap #2 I tried to relax even more and was suprised to already catch some guys on the climbs in the beginning. The time for lap #2 was about 60 minutes and I felt like I could push #3 in an effort to bring some more guys back. Lap #3 was the only lap that I made every hill and felt pretty good as I picked off several riders, but was unsure how many from my group, as some of the sport and beginner riders were mixed in. Lap #3 was 60 minutes also and I only had 1 more to go! Lap #4 was pretty tough as my energy was quickly running out. Everyone seemed worse off as I passed rider after rider. As I crossed the finish line I was happy to see that I was right at my 4 hour goal. I ended up in 3rd place only 2.5 minutes from second place. This was probably the hardest race I have done, but I loved every minute of it.
The littlest Leadout member (Keegan) brought home 2 first place trophies. He won the beginner 10 and under with a 45 minute improvement over last year. He also won the kids mini marathon as he lapped the field completing 9 laps in 30 minutes.

Dan K