Miles of Discomfort Marathon MTB Race 2013/01/26

By Shiva on January 28, 2013

Two of our well-used bikes after the Miles of Discomfort race in Comfort, Texas. (Photo by B. Shiva Mayer)

With the 2013 introduction of Cannondale and Austin Tri-Cyclist as 787 Racing sponsors on the dirt, a number of us have been putting more focus on racing our mountain bikes. This year’s Miles of Discomfort race, part of the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association’s Marathon race series, featured a number of 787 athletes.

Tom Ketterhagen, Mike Panozzo, and me all competed in the 26 mile, one lap category (in our respective age groups). Mike flatted only one quarter mile into the race, but thanks to the assistance of the good folks that run Flat Rock Ranch, was able to continue racing until suffering another flat tire shortly before the finish. Tom suffered a few incidents on the difficult terrain, and finished the race 19th in the 40+ age group. As for me, in my third mountain bike race ever, I managed to keep my Cannondale Scalpel upright the entire way to finishing 13th in the 19-39.

In the 54 mile, two lap category, Robert Biard finished 11th in the Open category despite also flatting twice, and Robby Ketterhagen finished incident-free in 15th. Marty Kovacs’ considerable skill brought 787’s best result of the day, a 6th in the 40+ age group.

We all had a lot of fun out in Comfort, Texas, and look forward to returning to the area for the Fredericksburg road races later in the season!