Heart of Darkness

For 40 days and 40 nights the rains have lashed the surfaces of the East coast making this summer the wettest that any of us can remember. With all racers having survived the mudfests called Singlespeed-a-Palooza and Dark Horse Gallop, it was time for the crew at Dark Horse Cycles to begin laying out the course for the Dark Horse 40. With water levels not seen since the Jamestown flood the team set out with survival locator beacons and waterwings to scope out a rideable course.Immediately the speculation began on where Hawaiian Mike was and there was unanimous agreement among the troops that due to the rain Mike was is a state of bliss on the couch surrounded by doughnuts and surfing the channels for the latest Simpsons episode.Normally the 40 is a 2 lap event that spans all corners of Stewart and provides a mix of buff singletrack, short punchy climbs and smooth flowing sections that leave your mouth watering for more. The current conditions have changed all of that and the general consensus (read that to be Mayoral Mandate) was to change the format to 4 laps of 10 miles each to provide more opportunities for those with broken spirits to hit the keg a bit earlier. The day's conditions put a smile on the faces of Tom "3 Beer" Rossi and C-Dubs since there would be plenty of water obstacles to ensure neither of us (and those that got too close) would come away either dry or clean. As we set out on the first recon lap our efforts were quickly thwarted by massive flooding and deep mud with 3 Beer and Top Chef going at it in the water only to take each other out and end up taking a swim together.
As we pushed on deeper and deeper into the jungle in search of the ultimate lap we suddenly found ourselves trapped by a fast flowing river of water across a spot that is normally not more then a couple of inches deep. Normally in these situations we would call up Hawaiian Mike from the back of the pack to do his Moses impersonation and part the waters in typical stylebut having missed out on the ride once again the troops had to make the leech infested crossing at full depth.Here we have the 24 Hr of Moab team (sans Mike) preparing for sudden dessert floods.Shop Sidekick showing everyone how to clear the river (and later how to service you bottom bracket and hubs).Once we had cleared the river it was out to the flats where 3 Beer and C-Dubs plotted race strategy and proper gearing with Hawaiian Mikewho provided this feedback
The end result of the day's ride, soaking wet, covered in mud, all smiles and of course massive carb loading at the cooler afterwards where 3 Beer was caught flashing his gang sign