Mankato
Lots of climbing and technical singletrack make this a fun course. It's usually super hot for this race, but this year the temps were in the low 80's making it a little less brutal. Climbing from the base of the ski hill to the top at the start, I passed a few riders on the way up to get into top 10. Inexplicably, I sketched out before the bridge and went down. I'd thrown my chain and by the time I got that fixed I had lost a minute or two, and lost contact with the lead group. I rode fast, passing the few riders who had just passed me. I was able to get around a few more on some of the technical climbing sections. Having had a few crashes last year on some of the switchbacks, I rode conservatively on the faster difficult sections.

I was able to reel in a few more on the big climb on lap 2. Then I started to have my usual lap 2 power fade. I was struggling but tried to keep a steady pace and keep hydrated. On the nasty hairpin on Mad Squirrel there was a rider in the middle of the trail fixing something, so instead of riding it I ran it and got in front of him. This turned out to be a good move as the two riders behind me tried to ride it only to be blocked by that guy. I was able to put a little more time into them on the climbs out of that section.

Coming back through the start/finish for the final lap the guys at the feed zone where telling me to hold my position because I was in 3rd or 4th place. I thought they must have had me confused with someone else, but was appreciative nonetheless. It's difficult to tell who is in your age group with such a large field, so you never know if you're passing somebody that really counts or not. I pulled back 2 more guys on the big climb and was able to recover quicker at the top. I settled into a good pace and had a better feel for the course by now. I was trying to catch a rider who was still visible about 100 meters ahead of me, and I was trying to hold off 3 riders about 50 meters behind me. This lap I was able to clean all of the climbs and keep the pace steady. I never caught the guy in front of me, but nobody passed me on that lap either. I ramped it up through the last wooded section and when I started down towards the finish line there wasn't anyone within striking distance behind me, so I eased into the finish. Ended up 5th, which is a personal best for me in the series races.