Congratulations to the whole team that participated and supported the 6 riders!  Stew and Sharon, Michelle, Darlene, TAra, Jim's entire family, and who can forget about Joe, Iola and the big bird!  I can't imagine waking up to a little singing bird in my face every day.  Thanks to Corey keeping the bikes running and Debby keeping the boys clean, neatly groomed, fed, and watered.  I think these two were more exhausted than the racers.  The support and encouragement you provided was phenomenal and didn't go unnoticed!  Thanks Stew for providing the posted photos on short notice.

Saturday's epic finishing stage was truly exciting, even being 6 hours away.  A cheer erupted with the news that Tim and Evan had won the closing stage by 10 minutes over their nearest rivals putting them into second place in the overall standings.  After over 27 hours of racing, they trailed the winners by 2 minutes 44 seconds.  What an inspiring performance the comeback and challenge the champs. 

Inspiring is the word to describe for Mike and Jim, whose daily quote of "Our team strategy is really quite simple; To start out slowly and finish slowly."  Team United Cycle - Orissa finished in an amazing 59 hours and 13 minutes, then sitting down and driving 6 hours the next day.  What an adventure.  Can you imagine 9 hour mountain bike stages, capped off by a 12 hour stage on the hottest and most difficult stage of the event.  Especially considering arriving at check points in the middle of no where in search of a little thirst quenching liquid and the aid stations are bone dry!!!!!  Then waiting nearly 45 minutes since there's no way of continuing without water!  Our hats go off to Jim and Mike for persevering under the harshest circumstances.

Trevor and Roger had a tremendous event.  They finished 23rd in the 80+ category in 40 hrs 27 minutes.  To understand how challenging this event is, how unpredictable it is have a look at their stage results.  Set backs, crashed, and mechanicals quickly take time and places away even on the shortest of stages.  And when the hardest, longest, and hottest day arrives Trevor and Roger put in a terrific performance to finish 10th on the stage.

More Race Photos:

Photos from the Youth Road Provincials by Alan Schietzsch are available at http://www.interpolatethis.com/06YouthRoadChamps.html.

 Photos from the Summer Solstice XC by Erik Bakke are available at www.flickr.com/photos/erikbakke/sets/72157594177568553/.

Photos from the Canada Day Crit by Alan Schietzsch are available at http://www.interpolatethis.com/06CanadaDayCrit.html