THURSDAY NIGHT OFF-ROAD RACE
     Tour of the Other Mining Country -- August 7th, 2008 -- 13 Miles

Three racers showed up for this race, which is three more than could have 
been reasonably hoped for.  The weather lately has been cold and wet, and 
there were heavy showers and low clouds at race time.  

The course is the same as last year -- up Ester Dome using the Marathon and 
other trails to put racers out on the corner with the 'turn indicator' signs near the top.  They ride past all the antennas and near the end of the 
Marathon's "out and back" section, take the left turn at the Y intersection.  
This leads them down to the Fireplug trail, which is followed back to the finish line near Ester.

The rain abated, and other than some mist near the top, conditions were 
pretty dry. Top finisher Jeff Gimble took a couple of spills, but seems 
to be made out of some pretty tough stuff, because he posted a fine time 
of 1:12:04.  Rocky Reifenstuhl crossed the line about five minutes 
later, with a time of 1:17:16, and was moving pretty gingerly, due to a 
previous injury.  It is conceivable that he could have beaten Mr. Gimble 
had he not been in such discomfort... Josh Snow came in third with a 
time of 1:33:50.  A veteran racer who has done this course before, he
said "I hate that downhill."  Pretty much sums it up.  The Fireplug is a very 
rough descent, and doing it with wet conditions just makes it worse, compromising 
steering and braking.

So, kudos to the three finishers.  Thanks for coming out!  Thanks also 
to Pete Wilda who rode the whole course, picking up course markers.  
What a guy!



Name			Time
===============================
Jeff Gimble		1:12:04
Rocky Reifenstuhl	1:17:16
Josh Snow		1:33:50