Monday, August 27, 2007

off road handcycle world championships all wrapped up.















boy howdy, quite the beatdown! sitting in an internet cafe in gunnison just feeling tired drinking coffee while denise is off mtn biking. all in all, it was one of the coolest events i've had the pleasure in participating in, and i did much better then i expected! the first day was the hillclimb - 2 miles straight up the side of the mountain to well over 10,000 feet. i was dicing it out the whole way for 2nd with last year's silver medalist, drew wills, after passing 5 riders after the start. it was grueling! i came in 3rd with seth arseneau winning and steve ackerman in 4th. the second day was the x-country, three miles up and down the muontain with a mass start. i was seeded near the back of the twelve starters as they put the fastest riders at the back to make it "more interesting", which it surely did. i ended up yo-yoing back and forth with last year's bronze medalist, steve ackerman, renound hard-man, the 1st guy to hand cycle around the world! it was a gruesome contest of who could endure the most pain with drew in 2nd and in sight the entire time and steve won, putting me in 4th with seth taking the gold once again. all in all i think i did really good for a rookie, it was a treat and a surprise to duel it out with the world's finest and to sit on the podium for both days in a world championships less then two years after almost dying, something i would have never belived would ever happen!{the $500 in prize money was pretty sweet too!} thanks to all, everyone was soooooo supportive, from my bro-and-sis-inlaws michelle and greg to one-off handcycles, ron andrews from kingcage, the crested butte adaptive center, the u.s. handcycle federation, all the vollenteers,and drew will for some great additional photos. and especially my wonderful wife denise for sticking it out with me through all the hard times and all her love! rock on, ya'll, steve.

20 comments:

Troy said...

great arming steve! glad you all had a great weekend. Troy

Anonymous said...

Steven,

You and all your competitors are badass, plain and simple. Kudos all around. Glad to see you go there and make a good showing for the Arizona folks! Wish I had ANY of your arms....damn.

Nice to see the dogs there too!

See you soon, be safe.

Preskit Matt

Anonymous said...

RAD!
ty

Anonymous said...

Yeah! Rock on, nice work. Lookin' forward to more fishing when you get back. And I still owe you $10. Congrats on the fun race and good results.

Borling

DMC said...

Good job man... That is one of my favorite places to race my bike. Anna and I have had some special times there glad to see you had a good weekend. Keep up the good work been showing off your bikes at work... People are in to the steel...

Word

Anonymous said...

Way to go, always the strongman and always will be!! Congrats!!

Jeff in NC

Unknown said...

Rock on back at ya, Garros (both of you!)

Anonymous said...

Great job Steve, I alway7s knew that you'd be back to kickin' butt on a bike. Congratulations!!

Keith Hughes

perryd said...

You rock like The Clash! I'm inspired, as I always am when I read your site. Nice job, superman!
keep on rockin' in what's left of the free world.

pd

Andrew Campbell said...

Rock on, Steve! Glad you had as much fun as you did well-earned glory! It's all a reward for all your and Denise's hardwork over the last two years.

A+M+M+J

Anonymous said...

Steve:

Just found the site and it rocks just like you. Your photos of the race are great and prior outings are awesome. I'll send some of ours soon. It was great to meet you and Denise in CB. I will definitely take you up on the Flagstaff and Sedona rides this winter.

My address for a T
1901 Sundown Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80906

All the best to you and Denise,

Drew

PS Thanks for all your help fixing my cycle and opening the beer. What else could I ever ask for?

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve, really great job you've done!
I heard about the race during my staying
in BENDOR, and here it is.
All of your friends in Japan glad to hear about your race as well. Really cool!

Another Tecate for you, cheers,

Aki from Osaka

Anonymous said...

Steve,
Congrats on the race!
I saw the new Die Hard with Bruce Willis last week -- all of you guys in that race die a lot harder than BW...

Seeing those race photos reminds me of a beer ad in an old Surfer magazine - ALL KILLER, NO FILLER

-Brad in San Diego

Anonymous said...

Hell yeah Steve!

Friggen inspiration as always!

Anonymous said...

Just browsing your site, checking out the great bikes and have read some of the back-story to some of your blog entries.

Amazing performance, given what you've endured over the last couple of years.

Huge kudos to you and all the other entrants.

Much Respect,

DM
(U.K.)

Anonymous said...

Great job Steve!!!

Anonymous said...

Right on man. Nice showing for sure. Props to you...

Anonymous said...

Great job Steve!

Mimbres Man said...

Finally back on line after a long summer break. Gullo told me about your race. Congratulations! Good going!

Anonymous said...

Great post, and a great blog!