USA cycling appears to acknowledge Marathon events as 63 miles in length. So I can’t classify the Dark Horse 40 as a marathon but coupled with the heat, and the fact that the Cat 1 Single Speed field started with 27 racers and 15 crossed the finish line has something to say about that day. It was already 80+ degrees by 8:00am. Racing at “12 Hours of Great Glen” seven days earlier, I was accepting of my 10th place finish at the Dark Horse 40. The Bethel Cycle Dirt Squad was there so my motivation was to race with my distant friends and support the Club at the race. Frank Dailey of Bethel Cycle had a great performance with a 12th place finish. Frank has just recently started racing Single Speed and moving up to Cat 1. Great job Frank!!! Also from Bethel Cycle Johan Koserius placed 3rd in the Cat 1 40-49 class. I saw Johan at the end of the race and noticed his rear wheel was missing a tire. I'll leave the explanation to him, that's commitment. Tony Muffatti placed 2nd in his Cat 1 age category, super performance in extremely HOT conditions. Sean Cavanaugh raced and finished strong as well. Sean has been busy balancing two new additions to his family and keeping the busy shop running smoothly not providing him the time in the saddle he prefers. A big thank you to Scott and Connor for the water bottle hand-offs. I have to admit I was sweating bullets just getting things together in the parking lot before the race. After pedaling down and back to the registration tent I decided to lighten my gear selection. The day before Greg was ribbing us Single Speeders about our gear selections and the “Geek Talk” that accompanies such discussions. No equation can make up for the fact that my legs had not recovered from Great Glen the week before. 34/20 was the right gear for me and my legs for the Dark Horse 40 on that day, but it wasn't tall enough to keep up with the top guy’s running 34/17. Flatting on the last lap ate up a few minutes and forced me to fight back for the 10th position. Doug Jenne from Bare Knuckle Brigade made me work for that 10th place and pushed me to clear the climbs that many racers were forced to walk. It was good to see Doug, he put out a great performance as well.
