Playtime: Ouachita Challenge (Aka Blowout on Blowout Mountain)

On Friday, drove up to Oden, Ar (where?) to ride the Ouachita Challenge Tour - 64 miles through the mountains of Arkansas. Its a very popular ride which usually fills up within several housr of the registration opening. Sarah stayed up until midnight a few months back to get us some spots.
For the most part, it was a great ride. I was doing pretty well, estimated within the front 20-30 riders. That is, until I reached a section called Blowout Mountain. At the aid station just before Blowout Mountain, I was joking with the support personnel as to the origin of the name - "will we blowout our lungs, our hearts, or our tires", I quipped in amusement.
The ride up Blowout Mountain was BRUTAL - one long constant uphill in granny gear with very few breaks in the incline. And those breaks were usually rock gardens that you could not ride through.
Then, on the downhill from the summit, a constant trail of rocks for what seemed over a mile. No smooth dirt trail, just bouncing over rocks. As I neared the end of the rocky section, guess what - I had a BLOWOUT of my rear tire! Not so funny now....