Lone MOBster tears his sidewall at IMBCS #1: Sylvan Island Stampede

Contributed by Bruce Brown

IMBCS kicked off with a "bang" yesterday at the Sylvan Island Stampede in Moline, Illinois. Surprisingly enough, after all the rain and snow this week, the course was in near perfect conditions. The crew had built two temporary bridges covered with shingles across two of the severe mud bogs. And they had built a new "east coast style" rock and root infested technical section which was really fun.

I'm not sure how many lined up at the start of the sport men category, but I do know that 49 finished the race and there were quite a few DNF's which are not listed in the results as of yet. Suffice it to say, there were at least 51 - 55 sport men at the start line.

The sun was shining, but it was chilly enough to require leggings and arm covers. I wore my long legged bibs and a long sleeve base layer underneath my MOB kit. What's up Mobsters? I've been the lone gangster so far at the Nebraska and Iowa series races.

I went into the singletrack in about the middle of the pack and spent the first two laps picking off guys one at a time. A number of early sprinters were fading and quite a few guys were having mechanicals. In the third of five laps, I started to put the hammer down because my legs and lungs were feeling good. I was passing guys 2 at a time and according to a course marshal when I went by him, I was in the top 20 by his count. I made a strong pass in one of the few openings by three guys and flew into a corner filled with sharp rocks. Kaboom!!! I tore the sidewall of my Racing Ralph wide open and Stans sealant spewed all over.

Race Over!!! No way I could patch or fix that slit in the sidewall as it was nasty.

RATS!!!! By my memory, that's the only really rock infested race course we face in the IMBCS, but I won't be running the same tires there next year given the chance. Who knows? I may have torn any race tire on those rocks yesterday, but it is what it is. Disappointing, but it is only the 2nd sidewall tear since I have been mountain biking. The other was a Bontrager XR rear tire in the Dakota 50 out in the Black Hills. I was able to repair that tire on the course with a boot as it was a small tear.

Bian Kingsbury and Ron Bridal took 1st and 2nd in the sport category. Gary Fisher Factory 29"er riders Jesse and Marko Lalonde took 1st and 2nd in the pro/semi-pro/expert. Full results.