Between bouts of working for The Man today I rolled over to Palmer Park to check out the 24 Hours of Colorado Springs, otherwise known as the USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships.

I couldn’t stay long, and I didn’t see much. Frankly, it didn’t look like there was much going on for an event that supposedly attracted more than 200 riders. But it is a 13.5-mile course with a shitload of technical bits, and I suppose folks could get spread out a bit. I’ve certainly found myself spread out more than once while riding Palmer Park.

I took a couple of snaps of riders descending a nice rocky bit near Austin Bluffs Parkway and Union Boulevard, but decided to spare one weary-looking woman the paparazzo treatment after she dismounted to gingerly walk the descent, saw me and my camera, and moaned: “Oh, man, don’t take a picture of me walking my bike. That’s just cruel.”