What an amazing showing from the 4 Pedal Power riders we had race the Mansfield Epic 8 Hour this past weekend. It was a beautiful day to ride, the trails were in great condition, and the competition was tough!
Here is a quick race report from Kate:
"I managed to get a great start near the front of the pack as I wanted to be sure I had fairly open track for lap one, with the hopes of giving Kerry and I any possible advantage over the other teams. My plan worked and I came through as the first women rider in lap one. From there it was Kerry's turn to take on the 10km course. She had a great lap, even with an endo over a steep root drop and posted a great time. Throughout the day Kerry and I traded lap for lap, except for twice when I doubled so she could feed baby Cole and prep Tim's feeds as he was racing solo. A check of the standings and we were in 9th. This made for a relaxed day of racing as we thought we weren't in any sort of podium potential. However, GCI coach Leigh Evans asked me after what was to be my last lap of the day what my fastest lap had been. This is when I finally checked the standings closely and realized we were actually racing in the Open Men's Category....ooooops! A quick chat with the Timer (who was so incredibly sweet) and a few computer clicks later we were in the proper category and just went from 9th to 1st!! Luckily Kerry didn't know that we were now competing for first so she had a relaxed last lap and we held the lead, tying 2nd with 12 laps, but doing the laps 15minutes faster:) Overall it was a great day on the bike and I couldn't be more proud of Kerry juggling all her different roles and still getting us on the top step."
~Kate Kaikkonen
Results
Tim Gale 2nd Solo Men's under 39 Category
Kate Kaikkonen & Kerry Gale 1st Women's Tag Team Category
Phil Kaikkonen & Phil Mueller 4th Open Tag Team Category
Here is a quick race report from Kate:
"I managed to get a great start near the front of the pack as I wanted to be sure I had fairly open track for lap one, with the hopes of giving Kerry and I any possible advantage over the other teams. My plan worked and I came through as the first women rider in lap one. From there it was Kerry's turn to take on the 10km course. She had a great lap, even with an endo over a steep root drop and posted a great time. Throughout the day Kerry and I traded lap for lap, except for twice when I doubled so she could feed baby Cole and prep Tim's feeds as he was racing solo. A check of the standings and we were in 9th. This made for a relaxed day of racing as we thought we weren't in any sort of podium potential. However, GCI coach Leigh Evans asked me after what was to be my last lap of the day what my fastest lap had been. This is when I finally checked the standings closely and realized we were actually racing in the Open Men's Category....ooooops! A quick chat with the Timer (who was so incredibly sweet) and a few computer clicks later we were in the proper category and just went from 9th to 1st!! Luckily Kerry didn't know that we were now competing for first so she had a relaxed last lap and we held the lead, tying 2nd with 12 laps, but doing the laps 15minutes faster:) Overall it was a great day on the bike and I couldn't be more proud of Kerry juggling all her different roles and still getting us on the top step."
~Kate Kaikkonen
Results
Tim Gale 2nd Solo Men's under 39 Category
Kate Kaikkonen & Kerry Gale 1st Women's Tag Team Category
Phil Kaikkonen & Phil Mueller 4th Open Tag Team Category