PADDEN MOUNTAIN BIKE DUATHLON

Area Man, Mike McQuaide, models the official Titanium Cowboys duathlon kit.

With Cascade Cross's Thriller Cross moved to December, I'll instead throw down, as it were, at Sunday's Klick's Mountain Bike Duathlon at Lake Padden. It's a race I've done many times and yet am always surprised at how absolutely painfully hard it is. You get done with the first 2.6-mile run lap and right away you're climbing up, up, up and more up the Expert MTB loop. And of course the race finishes with another 2.6-mile run lap. 

The above shot is at the finish of the 2009 race, during which I rode my single-speed and shot a helmet cam video with my old, grainy-ish GoPro camera. See the video below: 

Adding to this year's fun is the weather forecast: rain and wind for the first time in months! Glenn G., Bryan S. and I pre-rode the course a couple days ago when it was Eastern Washington-dry-as-a-bone; we surely won't have them conditions on Sunday. Lookin' forward to it, nonetheless. First race with the new carbon 29er fork!

A tie-dyed Johnny Boy Clark during the 2009 race.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who came to last night's REI Redmond slideshow--it was a fun time! Next up: Slideshow presentation at the Skagit Bicycle Club's Annual Meeting on Oct. 17. Looking forward to it!