Fall Flash Bike Series rolls along

El Dorado Hills resident Tom Morrical loves to ride bike and that's what keeps him coming back to the Prairie City Fall Flash Mountain Bike races.Morrical is not an expert rider. He competes in the beginner's men, 40-49 year old age group, but he's out there having fun and enjoys competing."I'm out here to do my best," Morrical said. "I also raced in the spring series and this is just a lot of fun. These events are well organized and well run."Brian Joder organizes and runs the racing series, which is held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday nights at the Prairie City State Vehicular Recreation Area. He said the fall series is much smaller than the spring, averaging about 150 riders per week, which is about 1/3 of the number who competes during the spring season."Things went great last night," Joder said. "We had about 150 people, which might have been a little lower because of the upcoming holiday weekend. The fall series is much smaller and laid back than in the spring."The races aren't easy, as participants ride over rough terrain and up and down hills for upwards of 50 minutes in some cases, which equates to a lot of pedaling. Morrical was hoping for a top-five finish in his age group, but finished eighth in 27 minutes, 44 seconds, 2:09 from fifth and 3:14 out of first. Competing in 100-degree temperatures and riding hard for close to a half hour would be considered work by a lot of people, but Morrical enjoys it."I'm out here to have fun and have a good time," Morrical said. The Prairie City Fall Flash Series continues with races on Sept. 9 and 16.