Amateur mountain biker beats living legend

 Coach was wrong. Nice guys don’t finish last.
And when everything’s just right, they beat living legends.
Dana Weber, an Aliso Viejo, Calif. resident who turned 31 on Wednesday, April 18, got an early birthday present the other week.
He won one of the toughest mountain bike races in the nation — Orange County’s Vision Quest put on by the Warrior’s Society. The race covers 55 miles and 11,000 feet of elevation in the Santa Ana Mountains.

Six differences between pros and amateurs
Without mentioning his 45-hour work weeks, Dana Weber lists:
1. Pros: Riders put clothes in mesh bag, leave outside hotel room door.
Weber: “Awesome wife” does most laundry.
2. Pros: Bike mechanics wash and prep bikes daily.
Weber: Washes his own bikes when has time.
3. Pros: Each rider has 3-6 bikes.
Weber: One mountain bike, one road bike.
4. Pros: When training, change clothes when cold or wet.
Weber: Wears layers and removes jackets.
5. Pros: Coach.
Weber: No coach.
6. Pros: Vehicles follow for protection, carry supplies and replace wheels with flats.
Weber: No vehicles.       By David Whiting, The Orange County Register

Amateur mountain biker beats living legend — Outdoors — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine