It was an early Saturday for this Cthulhu. Meet up with Chip at Grundel Bruisers HQ for a 6 am departure to Echo, OR. A 3 hour tour that would put us at the center of mountain bike mecca, at lease for today it was. Fast fwd to Echo, a small agri-town with pioneer days charm where the locals are super nice even though their town has just been overrun by spandex wearing, fat tire bike riding, hopped on sprint leggs and coffee, city folks. Still they were gracious. The day was perfect, such that short sleeves and shorts were the order of the day. Just before my race I heard that it was the largest turn out of racers for this event so far. Milkshake and Case were already there when we arrived and gave me the 4-11 on what I could expect. My plan was to ride and have fun and pass as many people as I could while still maintaining a smile. They promised 70% singletrack of a 24 mile race, pretty sweet percentages I’d say. The singletrack I did ride was AWESOME! I’d of ridden more if it not for my shitty chain breaking, not once but twice. The broom ATV picked me up at about mile 12 and took me back to the road where i hitched a ride back into town in the back of a pickup truck. It was still great fun and I don’t regret a thing. I’ll be back next year Echo.