TWENTY FOUR
USA Pro Cycling XC Mountain Bike Championship, Missoula MT On July 23, 2011 Missoula hosted is first ever US Professional XC mountain bike championship at Marshall Mountain. The course was grueling, but the day was perfect. I had to work until 5:30 and the race started at 6:00 so I was a little late in getting the the race and had to "run" up the mountain to get to a good location. After my heart exploded and my lungs popped like a walleye's that's been brought up from the deep too fast, the oxygen delivery to my brain suffered the equivalent of a mild stroke. I just set the ol' Rebel to auto, and jockeyed spots that gave me good comps. The race leaders. It was close through the first 4 laps. They are coming up about a 5-10% grade here and going faster than I can go on flat ground. I don't normally take pictures of moving people or things but this was an opportunity to get really close to world class athletes. Winner and Local favorite Sam Schulz. ...