Great work to everyone this week. On & off the course. I passed along our
team's thanks to the volunteers. My message is below.
_______________________________________________________________ Hello All,

Our inaugural Unravel the Scratchgravel mountain bike race has come and gone, so
I wanted to provide a final race report, offer sincere thanks to everyone that
chipped in & volunteered and close with some final thoughts. If I've missed
someone, please let me know or either pass along the following info...

We had a total of 78 riders compete on Sunday. 54 adults and 24 youngsters. Many
traveled from across the state to race. Kalispell, Missoula, Billings,
Butte...even Utah!

Racer Registration & Check-in: Chris Dexter, Melinda Barnes, Jill Hamilton &
Vivian Chaffer did an outstanding job getting everyone registered, numbered,
swag bagged and on their way. 78 racers processed in 90 minutes flat. Wow! Talk
about racing under pressure!

Race Timers: Melinda Barnes, Chris Dexter & Liz Townsend helped our great USA
Cycling Chief Referee, John Coulthard, in the race timing and scoring. They
worked as a team and successfully managed to get everyone's laps, time & place
recorded within a matter of minutes after the last racer crossed the finish
line.

Course Marshals: Our course marshals were great. Dennis Horton watched a tricky
crossing and made sure folks stayed on the course. Adele Delp watched a spot
where racers, speeding upwards of 30 mph, took a hard right and plunged into
some single-track. Along with dodging these fast-paced racers, Adele managed to
snap some awesome photos that we'll try to share with everyone. Gail Delp manned
the four-wheeler for us over by Head Lane & was able to successfully divert some
ATV'rs that had happened upon the race unexpectedly. Gail also kept in radio
contact with race headquarters throughout the race..."10-4, good buddy!" Jim
Barnes watched a tricky part of the course and, stuck in the middle of things,
kept the Cat 3's going left and the Cat 1's and 2's going right. In perhaps the
most impressive effort of the day on the course, Derek Bell watched his marshal
spot vigilantly and then managed to make it down the mountain in time to watch
his son race in the kid's event. Nice work, Derek! Craig Linke, David Cassidy
and Lonnie Olson were "down below" keeping racers on course as they negotiated
around the Echo Drive trailhead. All racers made it to the finish line safe and
on track. Congrats on a successful job!

Team BSC: During Sunday's racing, several members of Team BSC distinguished
themselves quite nicely out there on the course. Jerry Nelson & Dave Hamer came
in 1st & 2nd in the Cat 3 race. Big Russ Gates, after an early morning of
putting some final touches on the course, proceeded to plow through the Cat 2
race for a 3rd place finish. Jeff Linton, despite crashing (ahem) prior to the
race (!?!?!?) finished strong in the end. Joe Hamilton, after some extensive
Mai-tai training at sea-level in Hawaii recently, hauled his Rocky Mountain bike
around the course in fine fashion. Melinda's son, Willie Aguilar, helped out
extensively this weekend & also competed in the Cat 3 race in "Big Willie
Style!" Everyone's best performance, however, came both before and after the
racing. Course setup & marking. Helping out with the parking. Marshaling the
kids and juniors races. Course breakdown and cleanup. Fantastic effort and race
results, fellas!

Have I missed anyone and anything? I apologize up front as I probably have.
Also, I'm interested in any thoughts, suggestions or concerns that you came
across on Sunday. If we decide to do this race again next year, we'd like to do
it better & your input is valuable toward making this happen.

On behalf of the entire Big Sky Cyclery race team, thank you for donating part
of your Sunday afternoon and making the Unravel the Scratchgravel race a great
experience for everyone. Our team appreciates it. The racers that competed
appreciate it. The kids, parents & coaches that came out to this event
appreciate it.

Thanks Again,

Chad Dexter