Saratoga in brief:

Once again RD John Ceceri put on a great event with the help of his wife Kathy, family and friends.

The weather while beautiful, was decievingly hot. High 80's with overcast skies. Hydration and electrolyte balance were critical during the day. The night riding was AWESOME.

There were some exceptional riders out there doing some exceptional riding.

No one has ever surpassed the 425 miles in 24 hours needed to RAAM qualify on this course. It's just that challenging. This year 2 people would. Sandy Whittlesey, who holds the 12 hour record, finished first with a new 24 hour record. Rick Rhiengans came up from Atlanta and finished a strong second. I'm not sure of the total mileage. Results should be posted this week sometime. Rick had set a course record at Sebring earlier this year with over 470 miles.

Eric Jensen, who set a new 12 hour record at Sebring earlier this year, won the 12 hour, with John Jurczynski only 4 miles behind in second place.

John Fuoco came in first in the 12 hr men's 50+.

Rhiannon Bussey finished first female in the 12 hour. It was the farthest she had ever ridden! WTG.

Melinda Lyon, was the first female 24 hour finisher, and set a course record. Melinda also holds the course record for Paris-Brest-Paris, where she was first female the last 2 times it was held. I'll be a witness - this lady can climb, and climb, and climb, and climb.

The course is marked with mile marks. If you are still out riding at the 24 hour end, you just stop at the last mile mark you passed, and someone comes out and picks you up. I intentionally paced myself to stop at the 25 mile mark which was at the base of this short (1/4 mile) 12% grade. Melinda came by me at 23:57. Instead of stopping she says - "Come on, let's do this hill one more time". 24 hours of non-stop riding and she just had to have more! Amazing. There was NO WAY I was going up that hill again......... maybe next year.

Men over 50 -

John Fuoco won the 12 hour

Russ Loomis rode strong to win the 24 hour. Mark Hnatov was second. Tony Goodnight in 3rd.

As for myself, I had a early battle with a poor hydration/fueling plan. Once that was sorted out it was a great ride. Complete with the usual 4AM delerium and hallucinations. Left a little mess to clean up.

Big congrats to Kurt Higgins who completed his first 24 hour race!!!! Over 11 laps. Very very impressive.

I'll have more later.

RideOff - just for a day or two.

JB