Dirty Du at Rocky Hill 2008

November brings cooler days, Thanksgiving and a great tradition for Trimble Racing – the Dirty Du!  We have been racing these tough, but fun events almost since we’ve moved back to Texas with the first one happening in 2001.  This year Bo and I were the only ones able to make the start line at the famous Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville Texas, just south of Austin.  Out thoughts were with Dave who was in Europe and Nate and Hannah who were in North Carolina. Matt, who tried one a few years back, was in Houston but had other commitments.  These days, the only Dirty Du is once a year at Rocky Hill, although in years past there was a series of races each season in some incredible venues around Austin and San Antonio.  The race consists of a 5K trail run, a 12 Mile Mountain Bike, followed by a 5K trail run.  All of the best multisport and mountain bike racers in Texas have done the Dirty Du at one time or another, including a certain Lance Armstrong who still holds the course record at Rocky Hill with a 1:36:05.5 clocking in 2002.  I was in that race, standing on the same start line as Lance, but finishing about 50 minutes later with a 2:26:37.6.  Nate finished just ahead of me with a 2:24:46.2 and Hannah came in later with a 3:09:43.9 on her old green cruiser bike!

Bo is happy to arrive at Rocky Hill in the EVO!

When we got there, the Saturday Cyclocross was just finishing up.  Here’s Bo checking out the finish line he’ll be running through the next morning.

Camp is set up, Bo is ready to pre-ride.

The Trimble machines are unpacked and ready to go!  Bo’s 26R in Front, my 29R on the side.  I’m running my Dugast MTB tires.

After a pre-ride and run we changed and headed to the old Saloon, which thankfully is open again after being closed for a few years.  The famous washer game was still in place, and Bo still had his touch and was able to get the washer on the nail in the old tree in the middle of the place!

Bo takes carefull aim!  It’s hard to see, but he’s holding a big washer tied to some fishing line hanging from the ceiling and swinging it to land on a nail stuck in the tree.  It’s hard to do, believe me!

A band played layer in the evening.  The quirky old Saloon has been nicely restored by a new owner.

The old Saloon.  It’s got great showers in the bathrooms – a real luxury after a hard day on the trails of Rocky Hill!

Part of the Dirty Du tradition is the bike toss held the night before.  A heavy old junker bike is thrown as far as possible with the winner receiving bragging rights for being the meanest, toughest, strongest guy or gal at the Du.  It’s a macho event – no gloves are allowed to protect your hands from the sharp, rusty old bike.  Bo and I wimped out, rightly afraid of straining our back or arms or cutting our hands.  A keg of New Belgium beer, a Dirty Du Sponsor, fueled the event.  There is a men and women’s category.  The winning men’s toss was about 45 feet and the woman’s about 20 feet.

Another Dirty Du tradition is late night Flybar riding.  Here Bo readys his mount for some jumping – he’s pretty good at it!

Even with all the activities, Bo found some time to study in the tent under my LED bike light.  Then it was to bed for some much needed rest before tomorrow’s tough event.

Bo up and ready to go on a warm up run.

I’m still cold so I’m wearing my new Dirty Du jersy.  The Dirty Du organizers have always included the best quality, most useful clothing as part of your entry fee!

Bo’s machine is racked up and ready to go.

My 29R is ready too.  It started raining after we racked the bikes, but by the time the race started the rain had stopped.  Many years we’ve raced in the mud, but this year we lucked out and the conditions were perfect.

Bo stretching out before the start of the first run.

The area around the start.

Bo’s all warmed up and ready to race!

I’m ready to go too!  Bo made sure I had the right race number this time, unlike Du the Bear where I had his and he had mine.  I liked having his time at Du the Bear where I was winning my class until we changed it! There is no contest anymore, but when Bo started doing Dirty Du’s I could beat him easily.  Then he got closer and closer.  One year we finished neck and neck.  Now he’s so far ahead that he was finishing the race just as I was starting out on the last run!

Bo ended up 14th in 40 and under with a 2:08:23.8.  He was the youngest racer at 15 years old in the top 45.  I ended up 22nd in 40 and over with a 2:51:37.5.  Bo was about 20 min faster than last year and I was about 14 min faster than last year.  The conditions were better this year, last year was muddy.

You can see the results of this year and past years with the following link: http://www.dirtydu.com/results.asp

You can check out Bo’s race pictures at: http://www.kreutzphotography.com/default.asp?LOC=%2FKPhoto%2FPhoto_ViewTN.asp%3FDID%3D14%26GID%3D1222%

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My pictures are at: http://www.kreutzphotography.com/default.asp?LOC=%2FKPhoto%2FPhoto_ViewTN.asp%3FDID%3D14%26GID%3D1222%

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Nate holds the Trimble record at Rocky Hill with a fantastic 2nd overall in 2006 with a unbelievable time of 1:45:51.81!  We wish he could have been there this year, he probably would have been even faster!

Hannah also had a great performance at Rocky Hill in 2006, finishing 2nd in 40 and under and 4th female overall with a 2:16:10.70.  Hannah is also the only Trimble ever to win a Dirty Du overall, when she won at Warda on March 12, 2005 with a 2:05 clocking.