Congratulations to 2016 Crushers

I have often written about my conflicted feelings toward to the Crusher. I love everything about it except the things I hate-mostly the horrible pain. By the end of the Crusher, I feel absolutely destroyed. Every time. The scale of the Crusher is epic, the organization outstanding, the scenery spectacular, and the fun factor very high. But it comes at a cost. The image of Burke Swindlehurst as the Devil resonates with anyone who has ever ridden the Crusher.

In spite of relatively difficult conditions this year (hot, gravely) many of our local riders had outstanding finishing times. http://tusharcrusher.com/2016-results We were led by Gabe Klamer at 5:01 in the Pro/Open Men followed by Kellen who finished ahead of many of the Pro/Open with an outstanding time of 5:12 and a podium finish in the a very fast age group Men 20-29.

Kelson bikes occupied a prominent position in the DNA tent at sign in. Brian and Heather made some very impressive temporary tattoos for the locals with the Kelson logo superimposed over the profile of the State of Idaho. Brian's bike are well known and well regarded at the Crusher. I have never ridden there without someone complimenting my bike and expressing admiration for Brian's work.

We had a big group at the Crusher this year and I don't believe we have a single photo with everyone in it. If anyone wants to send a few additional photos, or to write down a few Crusher reflections, I would be happy to post them. We enjoyed traveling with Gabe and hanging out with Bart and his buddies including Mike Schjeldahl and Fahim Rahim.

The Crusher is notoriously hard on equipment and we broke a couple of bikes this year so not everyone finished, but we all came home uninjured and relatively happy. Joe drove the van both ways; into a fierce headwind on the way down and with a steady tailwind on the return. On the way down, we burned gas like the Space Shuttle and on the return we burned gas like a Prius.

I often comment on something that I ate at a race. I am a big fan of Salted Carmel Gu and I assumed I would like Salted Carmel Apple Gu Chews which as it turns out contain a truly noxious combination of chemicals.

So what are the people who just rode the Crusher 2016 talking about? Crusher 2017.