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Mont 24 2012
I was seriously undertrained for this one, but it was more of a dads and sons fun event with some competition within the team thrown in for a bit of interest. My best lap per the Garmin was 1:15 something, and probably 1:30 for the night lap actually spent on the trail, but it was so cold we elected to do our night time transitions from our campsite down near Gate 1. That decision probably cost me my opportunity for a third lap, but Hans came very close to putting me back on the track again, coming in almost 20 minutes ahead of my mental estimate for his last lap! Well done Hans. 
It really shows how much lighting technology has come along in the last 3 years. What was pretty competitive when I bought them is now woefully undergunned and this showed up most of all on Kowalski's Sideshow as I've already commented on the ride meeting thread: I just couldn't see continuously far enough into the corner and having one little hot spot further up with a gap in between that I had to fill in by memory was too much for my foggy brain at 4 in the morning. Fortunately there was no-one behind me on the descent to hold up. So these will be kept for commuting duties and I'll be looking to upgrade before the next event.
In the meantime, here's some footage from some of the fun bits I rode late on Saturday afternoon. I loaded it in 720p, so hopefully that show up on the menu shortly. Enjoy - I certainly did
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The clip takes you right back to the great trails. Watching it makes you start planning the next single track adventure and start looking at the upcoming race calendar.
That was my first Mont and Ethan and I were very happy for the invite to the team, even though we didn't find the name quite as funny as Hans did. I found it pretty tough, you really need to be very organised to make it comfortable. It is a great race, but more as a social event or mass pilgrimage paying homage to the greatness of mountain biking. Rider speeds were so variable that you wouldn't want to get too hung up about race times, with having to overtake and being overtaken. Mostly everyone was great but there were a few shockers out there. Like the rider who shouldered my son into the dirt on the first lap, and then didn't stop to see if he was ok.
Our team all rode well and I was happy that we continued to do laps through the night. It was really good for the kids. I came in on my lap before 6 to a pallid looking version of my son, who grumbled that it was going to be the slowest lap of his life. He returns a bit over an hour later with a silly grin on his face saying it was just awesome how the sun had come up and lit up the track and he was able to power though seeing everything so well and picking perfect lines.
I thought Ethan did well to back up from that tumble. I was unimpressed the guy responsible failed to stop but at least the guy behind made sure to check on Ethan's condition.
I'm glad he got to do the dawn lap... a reward of sorts for putting his body on the line. Josh wanted dibs on it ... but I told him we were sticking to schedule