Back to Bucky!!

After a couple year break.... the OCup Series returned to the infamous Buckwallow Cycling Center in Gravenhurst to shake up the riders with it's rocks and roots and technical trails!!!
Bucky has always been a great place to ride.... and a tough place to race.... and this year was no different.  With a few additions for the 1:30 race that saw us tackling West D'Nile and Spur Line every lap, it made for a race that required total focus from start to finish.

On the long double track start, it was clear that ex-moto racer Brett Maxwell wanted to have a clear track, and took off from Rob and I very early in the race.  Once we lost sight of Brett before the 1/2 lap mark, I looked at Rob and asked "Where did he go????"

So it was down to Rob and I to fight it out for 2nd place, and I did my best to lead the race since I felt like I was riding the technical parts quite well.  It also helped that Barry let me use his Superfly 100 Dually!!!!  Always nice to feel less abused during the race....

Around and around we went, to the taunting comments of spectators like "Are you guys trying to catch Maxwell?" and "I thought you guys were fast?"... and those comments were from our families!!
But Trying we were and Not As Fast that day we also were... and it became apparent that Rob and I would be sprinting from the exit of Spur Line to the start of Moose Mayhem since there really was nowhere to pass after that.

I came out with a head of steam and an ambitious mind, trying to keep Rob behind me, but around a bend where my legs decided that we needed to sit... Rob snuck around under some pine branches to take the lead....
"C'Mon Barnes... Pay attention!!"
"Sorry Ambitious Barnes who forgets that his legs are cooked and back is cramping and triceps are fried and shoulders are giving out and....."

So I put up a Sprint Effort to hold Robs wheel to the finish line, but had to be content with a 3rd place on the day..... a bit disappointed.

The Kids also had a bit of a disappointing day also.... with Luke taking a Slip and Slide head first fall down a technical double track descent, and Jake flatting early in the race and walking for an hour to find the finish line with only a toad as his friend....
Barnes family : 0 for 3 at Bucky this year...