19TH ANNUAL DEATH RIDE
	19th Annual Death Ride -- June 25th -- 18 miles


The 19th (or 20th, depending on who you ask) Death Ride was completed by 
most riders who started it, June 25th, 2006.  Only two riders rode the 18 
mile course in under two hours.  Steven Norris, 18 years old, blew away 
the rest of the field with an impressive time of 1:43:46, followed by 
Joanna Roth with a time of 1:54:14.  Of the field of eleven competitors, 
only one did not finish.  After suffering a broken chain, Noah Mery gamely 
pressed on, only to run completely out of energy, forcing him to call it 
quits.  Mery hung around at the finish area, happily cheering on other 
finishers as they came in.

The day started off fairly cloudy, with patches of warm sunshine, and it 
stayed that way for almost the entire race.  A few competitors reported 
that they were rained on a little, but no complaints.  The Death Ride 
course (which gets it's name from the idea of a death march) goes up 
Smallwood Drive off Chena Hot Springs Road, over the top and to the swamp 
at the bottom.  Fearlessly, the riders press on through the swamp, braving 
thick mud and questionable water that is thigh deep in places.  After 
slogging for two miles through this morass, the riders then face a 
seriously challenging climb.  Most don't ride the whole way up, and many 
seasoned veterans just begin pushing at the bottom.  They've been there 
before, and know how bad it is.

After reaching the breakpoint of the hill, competitors gain speed along 
the upper stretches of Gilmore Trail, dodging gullies and washouts.  
After what seems like forever, they mercifully connect with pavement, and 
are treated to a quick three mile stretch of easy riding, before turning 
on to North Hubernite, and diving straight into the woods down a 
challenging trail – the Rabbit Hole.  The Rabbit Hole dumps out on the 
upper reaches of Tungsten, and riders take a combination of subdivision 
roads and double-track trail to reach the finish line on Juniper.

 
Results:

Expert Men
----------
1 Steven Norris	1:43:46
2 David Norris	2:15:11


Sport Men
----------------
1 Dan Bross	2:01:24
2 Eric Troyer	2:04:51
3 Josh Branham	2:09:52
4 Bob Wilkinson	2:12:10
5 Jordan Buetow	2:14:22
6 Don Norris	2:15:11	
Noah Mery	DNF


Sport Women
----------------
1 Joanna Roth	1:54:14
2 Alison Mall	2:45:54