MBR.com: Has your team raced as a team before this race?

Pete: Yes, in 1997 we won as "Split Rock Racing".

MBR.com: Did the team do anything special to prepare for this race?

Pete: We have a group ride that we do every Thursday night. We've been doing this pretty steadily now for the last five years and we all ride during the week in addition to that. We've been pretty strict about getting together. Three of us always get together during the week, that's me Doug, and Dave.

MBR.com: How many laps did each member do during the race?

Pete: Scott and I each did 4 laps, Doug and Dave each did 5 laps and Cathy did 2 laps totaling 20 laps.

MBR.com: Was everyone on time for their next lap in the transition area?

Pete: Yes.

MBR.com: Was the team strong from start to finish?

Pete:Yeah, we were pretty consistent. It helped that we didn't have any major mechanicals, we really were conscious to try and make sure the bikes were prepared properly. We've all done 24 hour races and we all have a good number of races under our belt. Again, we made sure our bikes were prepared and that we were prepared. You try to be a little bit more conservative in a team race than you do in an individual race because if you mess up, you are messing it up for everybody on the team. There was just one flat tire out of 20 laps. We were pretty lucky in that respect.

MBR.com: Did you have a good support crew?

Pete: This year we really didn't. In 1997, we had a mechanic, a sports therapist, we had a guy there motivating us. We had as many people supporting us as we did racers. It was incredible, a guy to carry the bikes up... these were just friends that got involved because they wanted to but this year we really didn't have anybody. A friend stopped by with a pizza, that was about the only support we had.

MBR.com: Did anyone change clothes, shower, or nap during the race?

Pete: Yes, we all changed. We all had a fresh change of clothes for each loop. That's critical. Some of the guys tried to rest. I stay up and talk all night. I just get kind of excited and who's ever awake - I'm up yammering with 'em.

MBR.com: Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

Pete: Our biggest challenge this year was that the women who did it in '97, Susan Fox Gilman, that's my wife - she is an Expert women rider. She's a real hammer, she had the fastest women's time in '97. She was great, but this year she didn't want to do it. So we had a problem trying to fill that gap. We weren't sure what we were going to do and one of the guy's (Doug Verge) spoke to his wife (she really hasn't done many races) and he got her to step up to the plate and fill in. She was nervous that she was going to blow it, but she didn't! She did a loop, and we all just pushed ourselves a little bit harder. We always have a strategy. You go into these races with a game plan. You modify that game plan as the race goes on depending on how your team is doing compared to your competition. We have different rotations that we do. Our strategy boiled down to this: If we could get a lap on the second place team (we maintained first place almost throughout the whole race) we could put Cathy out again and her last lap wouldn't count. As long as

your next lap happens before twelve o'clock the next day you get the point as a lap and it doesn't matter how long it takes. We fought like dogs to lap them and we did - so Cathy's second lap didn't count so it took the pressure off of her and all she had to do was complete it and she did. Everybody was really proud of her. She was really cool about it. She put up with all of our coaching.

MBR.com: How do you rate the course?

Pete: It was slippery. Those rocks were dangerous. They get a little film of rain on them. Especially after the drought - they were dusty - then you get the film of rain and they get real slippery. It's kind of a Catch 22, you want to ride your suspension hard in a race so you don't lose a lot of power but on the other hand you want to ride it soft so when you hit those rocks you don't bounce off of them, you absorb them. So riding the right air-pressure in your tires and setting your fork right was really important.

MBR.com: If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

Pete: Second place and down always has a reason, always has a story but this time we won, we got lucky. I don't have a story. We'd do it all over again the same way. I could tell you about other times when I haven't won - I always have a story.

MBR.com: Is there anything you would like to add?

Pete: The people on our team were great. There's a lot of depth on our team. When anybody goes out and does a loop - you know they are going to bring back a good quality time and there's not going to be any major problems. There's no weak link. These guys are all hammers. They all know what they're doing. So yeah, it's a great group of people to be on a team with - I'm really happy.