We had another great turnout for the Bear Peak TT, the second installment of the TT series Dave and I conjured up a few weeks ago.
Since Dave kicked my butt on Green last week, I insisted that he take pole position after offering it to me. It felt like a somewhat controlled start and I was tempted at first to make conversation, but soon I was breathing hard enough that it was not an option. TT and conversation just do not mix. We made the Cragmoor/Shanahan junction ahead of PR pace and I was able to stay on Dave's heels to the doggy pond junction, but he slowly started to pull away. I could have dug a bit more and stuck with him, but that would have meant impending doom, as I was trying not to completely blow it too soon and save some energy for the upper sections.
I was surprised to keep Dave in sight for the most part, I was sure that he would be steadily putting time into me. As we ascended Fern Canyon, I could see that I was slowly gaining and was quite surprised by this. I was nearly a minute ahead of PR by the saddle and was confident I could keep up the effort to the top and set a PR. I reeled Dave in about half way from the saddle to the summit and was reluctant to pass as I feared that I might be biting off more than I could chew. I could tell Dave was not having his best day, otherwise I doubt I would be passing him.
This uppermost section was mostly a hands on the knees powerhike, but I was able to muster something vaguely resembling a run in a few spots.
I passed the summit post 6 seconds slower than PR and then made my way to the true summit. Dave was about 15 or so seconds back and I was surprised that I held him off (I later found out he had a bad cramp which explained my stroke of luck ;).
Scott Elliott finished next (stopping at the post), followed by Stefan Gabriel, Tara Breed, Bill Wright, Charlie Nuttleman, Homie Prater, Christian Griffith and Heather Swallow (I think in that order). Please correct me if I left anyone out or screwed up the order.
My splits were:
Cragmoor connector/Shanahan 2:25
Dog Pond Jct. 4:00
Mesa Trail 8:54
Slab (where trail crests) 13:03
Saddle 24:34? (could be off by a few seconds, I was preoccupied with the prospect of catching Dave)
Post near summit 37:31 (previous PR is 37:25)
True summit 38:13
Dave was about 15 seconds back, Scott was 39:?? at the post. After that others times are fuzzy.
