Red Wing
This is one of the best courses around, with some super twisty singletrack and pretty technical sections. Gus took out the Stairway climb, but there were a few super steep technical climbs that more than made up for it. Temps were in the 90's with dew points in the 70's so it was pretty sticky.

They did a mass start for sport which meant 93 riders all going at once. Needless to say there was a big bottleneck going into the first stretch of singletrack. I had the misfortune of being about 30 riders back. You had to come to a complete stop and wait for an opening to get into the woods. Even once that was accomplished it was wheel to wheel with the less experienced riders not being able to ride up the short, steep climbs. Eventually I got off and ran with my bike since it was faster than trying to ride behind these people. For the rest of the first lap I opened it up in the wider sections and tried to keep up the tempo in the singletrack. I made it down the sketchy ravine section fine (actually cleaned it for the first time ever). The climb out was new to me. Twisty, tight, steep, long, loose and rooty. Sweet! Unfortunately there was another traffic jam here, so it was cyclocross time again. I ran around the bike pushers and got back on without spiking the heart rate too badly. I made good progress along the off-camber section, but I took a bad line down the rocky, sandy downhill section. My wheels just slid through the sand and I drifted off trail into the woods and to the ground. No major damage, but it cost me some time. Got back on and came through the exit section of steep banked climbs.

The hose at the start/finish area provided a nice blast of coolness. I was feeling pretty good, so I popped it in the big ring and hammered through the grass section. I had managed to pass quite a few people, but it was hard to tell who was in your class with the mass start. Back into the singletrack, and I managed to reel in some more guys. I caught up to Ton and passed him and a few other guys on a climb. I saw Mark Consugar up ahead and caught a brief glimpse of Sean Nelson. A few minutes later, I saw Sean standing off to the side of the trail, then saw his pedal laying on the ground. Bummer. A little bit after that I saw Mark with a mechanical. Both guys DNF'ed. On the Crosstown section I reeled in Matthew on the climb and passed him, figuring he'd probably grab my wheel and pass me again shortly. Surprisingly I opened a gap and when I got the top of the climb I hammered across the field and down into the ravine. Made it through there without too much difficulty and came around for the final lap.

I kept the tempo up and passed a few more guys. There were some people behind me, but I had a pretty good gap. Now I just wanted to stay upright and not let anyone pass me. The trails switchback so much it's hard to judge how close you are to other riders. I started playing leapfrog with a singlespeeder who kept cursing his gear selection. I kept telling him he was crushing most of the field and to keep going strong. Down in the ravine some of the Peace Coffee boys were coming back into the picture, so I revved it up as much as I could on the climb out. Had a little trouble with some roots and had to run for it. Now I was behind one guy on the off camber section and had to bide my time to pass. I finally came around him on the last high-banked climb and also passed the singlespeed guy again. One guy ahead of me yet on the final climb to the finish. I sprinted around him since I wasn't sure if he was in my class or not and beat him to the line.

Ended up 3rd in my class, 16th overall. If not for my trip into the trees I would have had second for sure (only 30 seconds down). Best finish in the MNSCS ever. Finally got some hardware. Looking forward to Welch in 3 weeks.