Frozen Hog Report

Four days of laryngitis, a massive infection in my left ear(thank you prescription for Lortab), a tweaked back, and rampant case of trenchfoot.  All in all, it was a great Frozen Hog.

I spent Friday before the race at Lambert, building the Taj Mahal of registration tents, which amazingly no one took ANY pictures of.  But thanks to some major support from Jeff Orr and his company Stucco Works.  We roughly doubled the size of the pavilion and  had it warm and comfortable by the time racers started showing up.

Interior of the Taj Mahal

Though the drizzling rain was more of an issue than cold weather.  Yes folks, after weeks of trail prep, and accomodations for sub-zero temperatures, at 6am race day, it was 40 degrees and raining.  Acquaintances of mine who don’t know anything about this type of event would later tell me ” At least it was good weather for a race.”  Riiiiight.

The rain and warm temps made all the trail prep go straight down the toilet.  At best, the trail would be a slushy sno-cone consistency. At worst, a soggy nightmare.  Which is fine for me, because I wasn’t racing.  But for those who were, it wasn’t looking good.

New to the race this year was the LeMans start.  You may remember my first impression of a LeMans start.   For this event we made the racers run around the upper meadow, with a detour through the deep snow before picking up the bikes in the parking lot.

Go!

What kind of jerk makes you run through the deep snow?

Unfortunately, not a lot of video exists as of yet but stay tuned.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a miniature Fox in his ghillie suit gear!

I'm a husla baby.

It was hellish torture from here on out.  Reports were coming in of the trail being 20% rideable.  One fit looking young man walked up to the campfire after his first lap and plopped down.  After several inquiries about what was wrong with his bike, he stated that he just couldn’t go on.  Not sure how it made him feel when the whole field of women, 50+ , and Clydesdales finished the race, but whatever.

One by one, racers passed by the start area on their first lap.  Some smiling, others not.  At the front of the pack it seemed to be all Singlespeeders.  If I remember right, on the first lap the first ten riders were better than 50% singlespeeders.  Guess what singlespeeders? Next year, your riding the expert course.  Yeah, now that’s happenin’.

It became apparent after the first lap, that we were in for a bit of a wait.  In a race that has taken around 45 minutes in some previous years, we would see some riders taking the same amount of time for one lap.

That is except for one rider.  Enter Noah Talley.  Noah was the first to complete a lap.  He was fresh and running the sections he couldn’t walk.  Soon after, while we were still ticking off first laps for the back of the pack we saw Noah again.  Charging up the hill for the finish.

Looks young, doesn't he?

You might be thinking,”He certainly does seem fresh-faced and full of youthful exuberance.”  That would be because he is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!!!! Yeah, for those who thought that just riding the Hog meant you had some kind of credibility as a “bike tough”.  This kid beat all-comers on the sport loop.   His father said he would have registered expert if  he could have.  So here on the record, I would like to state that next year, Noah races expert 18-29.  Not because I want to see him get beaten, but because I would love to see how he’ll do.  My money is on him for that category as well.

Slowly all the riders finished their laps, and settled in around the fire.

Thanks to Papa Holder for the fire pit.

Soon after the kids 12 and under race started.  A slightly shorter race, the kids did three laps around the “LeMans” loop.  Only minus the running.  We had 12 kids competing for the grand prize.  A brand new Cannondale F9 bike, size small.  There wasn’t much more riding in the kids race than in the adults race, but there were a lot more smiles.

That kid in the Camo's father must be one ruggedly handsome dude.

Pink is for tough girls.

In the end, Jared Pflueger got first place, and the bike.  Later when I was talking to Owen(my son) about the race he said “The kid that won was such a nice kid.”  Apparently after winning he stuck around cheering on the other kids, and told Owen he had “done a great job.”  It’s so good to know, that not only is Jared a great mountain biker, but he’s also a great kid.  I do know that he and his father had been riding in the snow a lot to get ready for the race, and it looks like it paid off.

Following the race we began the raffle.  David Holding won the adult sized Cannondale F9, and the other winners were a few too numerous to mention.  Prizes from Easton/Blackburn, Rone Industries,The Daniels Summit Lodge, Red Rock Inn Moab, LaQuinta Inn Fruita, Serfas, Tifosi, Yakima,Gu,Ryders Sunglasses, and beautiful bike statues from Stone & Wire Art Creations by Daryl Devey.

All in all, I think it went great.  There are certainly a few things that I learned with this being the first year I’ve put it together, but hopefully you all had as much fun as I did.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped, especially the volunteers who did all the hard work.  Whether in the registration tent, out on the course, driving the shuttle truck, or working the finish line.  It wouldn’t have happened without all your efforts.

I would also like to thank Bob Lyksett with www.imagineitphoto.com  He took most of the photos in this post and hundreds more.  Please visit his site and take a look at what he has to offer.  These are the most reasonably priced race photos you’ll see.

And since she never reads this blog, I’d like to thank my wife especially for putting up with me being a whiny,cranky, jerk for the last two months or so.  It takes a lot to put something like this on, and she helped out with everything.  Running errands, stuffing goodie bags, and running registration.  Thanks Kellie.