Recap/Results

First off, congratulations to everyone on an excellent race yesterday. We had 155 racers toe the line at The Mullet Fall Classic!!!! 123 took advantage of the discounted online entry fee to pre-register before 9 p.m. on Saturday night. 32 Day of Race Registrants were added at the registration table. The 155 participant number is up from the 133 last year.

I'm especially encouraged by the enthusiasm, participation and fun everyone was having out at Lake Ahquabi. I don't think we could have had more beautiful weather the past two years for the Mullet, but it is no doubt a big plus. Every year is a learning experience for me as the event grows and changes. I was pleased with how things turned out for the 4th running of this event and have appreciated everyone's feedback.

One award I neglected to announce yesterday was The Best Mullet Award. I have chosen Matt McCuthcan as this year's winner of The Best Mullet award. I know I said no wigs were allowed this year, but when a guy dons a blonde wig, pulls up in a big red pickup hauling a grill/smoker in the back, and then grills his dead animals for everyone to enjoy - I've got to go with the look/effort combination to present him with this year's Best Mullet Award.

Race Results...

Nancy and Craig sent me the link late last night to all of the results so everyone can view them online. I also have a .pdf file they sent with individual lap times if I can figure out where and how to post that.

I put the link to the overall results up on the Raceregister.net site, the Mullet Blog and here is the direct link to MyLaps.com: RESULTS

You can break results down into overall, divisions, etc... at that site to see how you did against everyone in your category as well as your division.

I'm pleased the lap distance of 6.7 miles and high speeds due to the dry conditions resulted in yesterday's finishing times for the winners being able to almost exactly match the IMBCS season goals of:

30 minutes for CAT III

60 minutes for CAT II

90 minutes for CAT II Comp/Singlespeed

120 minutes for CAT I

There seemed to be a bit of confusion among riders with regard to the Comp Class (new addition to IMBCS this year) because it is still under the overall umbrella of CAT II. That confusion is understandable because this is a new category designed to be a "bridge" between the Sport and Expert categories. It is used in Wisconsin and Minnesota with the mountain bike races and is a very popular division. We had a lot of racers yesterday that haven't been to other IMBCS events this year to know about the Comp Class. Now they know. ;-]

There are no age groups within the Comp/Singlespeed divisions as they are both "open" classes. There were about 1/2 dozen or so riders that either signed up for one, but really meant to be in another, or came to the sudden realization that they didn't want to do 3 laps (or just 2 laps in one case). So some switching at registration and right up to the start of the race was taking place.

In spite of that, the investment for using electronic timing from my standpoint was worth it. We had 155 racers yesterday which meant that tracking so many racers - especially with 5 different races going on (MARATHON, CAT I, CAT II COMP/SINGLESPEED, CAT II SPORT, CAT III BEGINNERS) with the start waves was easy for the timing equipment.

One last personal story thanks goes to Jessica Riedl. Originally, her time in the CAT III Women resulted in a 2nd Place finish. I gave her the award and she was a proud winner of a new pair of lady Oakley sunglasses. A bit later, she came back to me and said there is no way she could have been a winner because she had missed a turn in the race (the section after the campground where everyone was to turn left and head back up into the woods and go across the road where the first crossing guards were standing). She accidentally went straight down by the lake water and sort of wound up over by the boat ramp area which cut off a good mile plus of trail (the Mickey Mouse ears section at the north end of the park). Thanks to Jessica (in her first ever mountain bike race) for being honest and coming forward!!! Hats off to you for that as I know it was difficult to give up the Oakley glasses.

A huge thanks to Jed Gammell, Rob Versteegh, Sterling Heise and Rasmussen's Bike Shop, CITA volunteers, Scott Sumpter/BikeIowa.com, Lamda Chi Alpha (our dedicated crossing guards doing work to earn service points for their fraternity), and all of those that helped do trail work, set up, clean up, bring food, beverages, etc... .

I will provide a detailed accounting of the expenses and entry fee money simply to show what is actually involved to host an event this large, and to show how much of the entry fee money everyone paid ended up actually going to CITA as a donation for their fund raiser. I should receive the entry fee money from Raceregister.net sometime this week and then I will provide the accounting. Year one and two I lost money. Last year I made all of that back and then some which I put right back into this year's event. I attempted to keep costs as low as possible which becomes difficult when you add in awards, t-shirts, bike plate numbers, electronic chip timing, online registration transaction costs, porta-potties, $1800 in cash prizes, and supplies. My goal is not to make any money on hosting the race, but give it back to the event or in the case of the 2011 running - to CITA.

I'm exhausted, but thank goodness it's pumpkin pie season. I'll recover...

Bruce

Description

Mountain Biking (RACE)

Distance - One lap = approx. 6 miles

This year's Mullet Fall Classic promises to be sweet party thanks to the combined effort of CITA, BikeIowa.com and our sponsors. Mark your calenders and make it your "must attend mountain bike race" of the year. And I have ordered PiPi's porta-potties this year!!! The trails for this race course are super friendly and offer something for experts and first timers alike. Haven't ever raced a mountain bike before? This is the place to get your first taste of XC mountain bike racing. Trails are wide open double track for the most part making passing very easy and no traffic jams. You can safely ride at your own race pace without worrying about others around you. It will feature the IMBCS categories of Cat 1 (Expert); Cat 2 (Comp/Singlespeed), Cat 2 (Sport) and Cat 3 (Beginner) as well as an Open Marathon 3+ Hour Race category. The event is also a fund raiser for Central Iowa Trails Association (CITA). Food and drink will be available in a big post race party. The Marathon Race will begin at 11:45 and prize money will be given to the winners (men and women) who complete the most laps with the best time. When the clock hits 3 pm, no more laps will be allowed to start for the Marathon. How many laps can you do? '-] IMBCS XC races will do (4 laps Expert); (3 laps Comp/Singlespeed); (2 laps Sport); (1 lap Beginner). Prize money payouts to the top Cat 1 (Experts) in men and women's classes. We will start in waves beginning at 12 - or high noon! Awards for winners in other categories - and a prize for the best Mullet grown and sported by a racer. No wigs allowed! You have to grow it naturally to win it.

Route

Start/Finish will be at the Lake Ahquabi Beach Shelter. The route will go around the lake in a clockwise direction and up into the woods for a lap nearly 6.5 - 7 miles depending on final route decisions.

Registration

Raceregister.net online. Due to the use of electronic chip timing this year, we urge everyone to register online so the data can be entered and the software set up for race day. Not to mention, you receive about a $10 discount on your entry fee by using the online registration. I'll eat the $2.70 transaction cost and the $7-8 cost of the timing chip if you'll register online. Pretty cool, huh? Online registration opened September 20th and closes at 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 8th. We will have day of race registration for those that somehow missed the online registration process, but there will be no discount ($$) for that. It opens at 9 a.m. at the Beach Shelter and closes at 11:15 (30 minute before the start of the Marathon race). Link to register is here: http://www.raceregister.net/RaceRegister/event?action=view&id=51

Contact

Bruce Brown/Jed Gammell

brown.bruce@mchsi.com

515-205-4295 (Bruce)