Andrew Tames the BEAST

While Kathy and I were in Vancouver, Andrew was doing the 15 hour Beast race. The course got changed last minute into a staged format due to a permit that was denied, which did not make it as much fun, but since Andrew has only done one small AR before, it was going to be a learning experience, nevertheless.

He signed up for Lotto team, and spent an anxious week as other Lotto members dropped out. He ended up doing the race with Ian Hoag w/o any communication between the two ahead of time. Ian was an experienced racer, luckily, and they both showed up ready to rumble.

The last stage found them in front of the chase, with several other teams minutes behind them. Another team, Kagome, quickly caught up with them, and they traded the lead on and off for the rest of the rest. Kagome seemed faster, but Andrew and Ian could actually navigate. Towards the end, they decided to finish the race together, and Andrew did all he could to keep up with the combined group as they rocketed through the last several bike controls and finished in first place. Kudos to Andrew for being the only racer to dare to do the race with a mountain bike with no suspension. I think that's kind of like fighting your opponent left-handed.