The weather was absolutely perfect on Saturday for the first annual Mud, Sweat and Beers Fat Tire Festival. The event was held at Mt. Holiday in Traverse City and featured multiple races to include the a ten mile course called, ‘Pale Ale, a twenty mile ball buster, ‘Stout’ and for the kids, a mile long trail called, ‘Root Beer’. I raced in the Pale Ale category. Well, race is probably not the best word to describe my effort. I survived the race and managed not to come in last place. This race features a lot of climbing and for anyone that knows me, hills are not my friend. : )

My friends Jerry, Jeff and Tiffany rode in the ‘Stout’ race and all had very respectable times. In fact, Tiffany was 10 seconds away from placing third in her category!! The ‘Stout’ course “featured” 1300 feet of vertical climbing over 20 miles. Ouch!! The organizers are already talking about adding more elevation to the course for next year.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and we are all definitely looking forward to making this race an annual event. As for the photos, well, we didn’t get too many. Rhonda snapped a few before the race but once I finished, I was too wiped out to walk back to the truck to get the camera. Next year!!

Jeff, Tiffany and Darrin

Darrin (that's me!) near the finish line

Jerry mugging for the camera at the starting line

Darrin blasting off from the starting line

Course Map and Elevation Profile for the Pale Ale Course

Course Map and Elevation Profile for the Stout Course