jordon Carr Blog: Patiently waiting... Final Countdown to 2010 Vapor Trail 125

The day is finally here… But now all there I can do is wait. A race starting at 10pm makes the day leading up to it difficult. It is extremely easy to second-guess many decisions as you sit around and recheck all your gear. It has always seemed to me that taking it easy and loading up on food and water is the best strategy for days like this. But as everytime I sit down to chill out, I think of something else I could be doing. Making this relaxing day much more difficult.

            After a nice easy night ride last night I feel like I have my lights dialed in. They are nice because of the adjustability they offer, I spent some time riding some fast gravel road descents as well as some slow techy singletrack. The Ay-Up setup lit up the trail really nicely in both situations. I plan on running the two biggest batteries I have while carrying a small one in my pack for a backup. I hope to get just enough burn time to make it through the dark hours with not much extra burn time.

Top Fuel all dialed in and ready to suffer through 125 hard miles.	Beautiful night for a ride. Hopefully the skies remain clear through the weekend.	Ay-Up lights all mounted up and ready to rip. Suprisingly bright for how small they are!

            Yesterday also brought about another change. I was able to get ahold of another pair of Continental tires, which actually seem to fit the course much better. They are the new X-King tires in a 2.4 width. Continental has introduced what looks to be a much better sidewall on these tires. I am hoping they hold up well!

Last minute tire change thanks to the fine folks at Continental and a great Gunnison mountain biker. After the ride last night I am extremely excited to race these tires in the VT.	Nice low profile tread pattern but still plenty of knob.	New updated Protection sidewalls keep these X-King tires from those pesky sidewall tears that eventually end your ride.

            Finally my pack is packed and ready to go and all the rest of my gear is in the truck ready for the short drive over to Salida at 6pm. It always seems so weird to be driving over to a race at 6pm, but that adds to the uniqueness of Vapor Trail.

            In a few hours we will be mingling with fellow endurance racers at Absolute Bikes anxiously awaiting the 10pm start. Hopefully I don’t overdose on coffee at Salida Café conveniently located right next to the shop.

            I will be bringing a camera along during the race, so hopefully I can get some good shots of the roll out of town and some high mountain solitude at dawn.

Check out more race info here:

Event Website: http://vaportrail125.com/ LIVE Tracking:  http://trackleaders.com/vapor125

Full Report to come…