This year's race had a mind boggling 500+ riders toeing up to the line for the start and with the first 1/2 mile containing washed out sections, placement at the line was critical to avoid the bottlenecks.

Leading the charge was Trish Stevenson, taking 51st overall and 2nd in the Women's, and securing 3rd overall in the series. Mark Elsasser placed 66 overall and 13th in single speed and the elusive Mike Ramponi came in 91st overall and 18th in single speed winning a Grammy for the best on course rendition of Led Zepplin's Whole Lotta Love. Chris Wurster was seen crossing the line testing a taco shaped wheel/zero tire pressure setup designed just for November's Baja Epic. He managed to cross the line in 133rd to take fourth in Master's and secure at least 4th in the Master's overall. Struggling with knee problems but still getting it over the line was Alex Kopko in 146th and the encore was performed by Swamper bringing it home in just under 14 hours.

Special thanks goes to Kerry Combs who had positioned herself at the Shenandoah Mountain picnic area atop the longest climb of the day. There was no better site then Kerry coming up and tending to our needs as we regrouped mentally for the final slog home.....thanks a million KC!