Thanks to all of the volunteers who contributed to a successful 2016 MegaMonsterEnduro!!! Helping coordinator Kevin Winterfield were Bill Bushnell, Cara Coburn, Sonia Plageman, and Hui Chen, and Dan Connelly, with some added help from Sergei Zavarin after he finished his ride.
It was another year of fantastic Low-Key weather for the MegaMonster Enduro, but unlike the past two years, not a drop of water fell on the riders today, and so we had an excellent turn-out. But while we may have lacked any immediate rain, the effect of past rains were quite evident, as thorns were in abundance, causing widespread punctures. Yours truly set out on his usual trail run between starting and finishing riders, out and back on Brown's Valley Road (dirt) but had to wade across a rapidly flowing stream which hadn't been there in previous years.
In the men's division, it was Chris Evans crushing the course, falling just short of Nils Tikkanen's 2013 record 4:30:13. Last year's #1 Alexander Komlik was back from his injuries with a solid 2nd place, the only other nonmotorized rider to break the 5 hour barrier.
In the women it was Kate Urban breaking Yvonne Walbroehl's win streak to take first place, Yvonne second by a mind-blowing 11 second margin. Kelly Gunn was third.
In the tandems, Sarah Schroer and Paul McKenzie led Susan Kayser and Craig Robertson.
And once again in the hybrid-electric division it was Bill Bushnell with an official time of 3:37. Bill was credited 47 minutes for time spent aiding Tim Clark on the road on the way back to the Bitterwater checkpoint.
Thanks to all the riders who came out, and to our lean-and-mean crack crew of volunteers who made this year of the MegaMonster Enduro possible!