First Impressions...

I have tried several Camelbaks over the years. Some I liked, some not so much, but I was never blown away by any of them.

I recently bought an Osprey hydration pack. The Raptor 6. So far I only have one ride with it, but I am very impressed. First off, it fits great. I had about 50 ozs. of water, multi tool, co2 and phone, and it felt very light. The bladder is Nalgene and has a rigid spine to it. I rode for an hour and a half in 100 deg. heat and the water stayed nice and cool the whole time. The bite valve seems to work well, and the magnetic clip is a really nice feature.

All in all, after the first ride, I would have to give it 5 out of 5 stars. I'll update my review after more riding. In the mean time, if you are in the market for a new Hydration pack, you should consider the Osprey.

Cheers,

Buddy

Iron Hill...

I had no intention of racing Iron Hill, but after a short conversation with L Webb, I was in. First off props to Dennis for putting together the best, and the longest Iron Hill course I have ever done. the weather was perfect, and the course was blazing fast. I decided to do the 4 hour Enduro single speed. The only problem with that is, Iron Hill is really bumpy, which made my rigid fork not the smartest choice.

We had a nice compound set up right on course which made feeds really easy. My goal was 5 laps of the 7.25 mile course. I felt really good the first couple of laps, and was cruising in the top 5, then my lower back started hurting. I thought a quick stop and stretch would help, it did not. My back just got progressively worse. Then on lap 5 I started cramping. I was surprised because it wasn't that hot, and I was drinking plenty. I finished my 5TH lap and decided to call it a day, despite having 20 minutes left to start my 6TH lap. In hind sight, I think I probably should have suffered through, but I did my 5 laps and was content with that. It would have meant the difference between 10TH and 5TH, but so be it.

Nice job to Marc and Travis for having a great race, plus they stopped to help Ben when he crashed out. I felt bad for L Webb who crashed out on her 5TH lap and called it a race. FSVS put on a nice race, and once again Dennis out did himself.

Not sure what my next race will be, but this one looks fun.

Who Knows,
Cheers,
Buddy