Cannondale and Shawnee

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything and a lot has happened. The Cannondale dealer meeting was a blast. I really enjoyed spending time with other dealers and I learned a lot. Some of these shops have been around 80+ years and they have a lot of knowledge to share. I got to ride a lot while I was out there. The first day we went out for a 40 mile road ride on the new Six carbon. Incredibly smooth riding bike and very responsive. Totally different ride from my current System6. Thursday we went out for another 40 miles. The first 20 we were in the company of Ivan Basso. Very nice guy, uber-euro, and obviously incredibly strong. I then met up with a couple local guys and followed them around the mountains for another 20 miles. Friday morning was a quick ride around town, then that afternoon I went out on the mountain bikes for about 3 hours. I chose to ride Cannondale's new Moto carbon. 160mm of travel (way too much for around here) but in the mountains it was a blast. It climbs fairly well, but when you point it downhill it's faaast! I came back with a few new scars and bruises, but it was a blast.
Hershey and I registered for 24 hours of Landahl as a 2 man team, only to find out last week that it was canceled. In prep for it we each did Shawnee Mission 6 hour solo. Very tough race. Rocky course, 100 degree weather, and I lost a bottle on my first lap. My hydration level got too depleted and I just couldn't recover. I was taking a lot of time b/t laps and trying to re-fuel, but the race got the best of me. 7 laps in all, I was a little disappointed. Next year I hope it doesn't fall the day after my birthday either since that was my yearly birthday century. RIM 12 hour is only a few weeks away and I have a lot of work to do.