Powder Monkey/Gluek RR
I headed into MNSCS#8 in virtual 2nd place. At the gun Horner and Melhus took off. I didn't redline it, but made sure I got as far up as I could before the singletrack. This course is brutal as there really are no flat parts. You're either climbing up short technical rocky sections, negotiating tight downhill curves, bombing down bumpy grassy ski hill, or making the long climb back up Spirit Mountain. The long climb seems to be the easy part here. After lap 1 I was in about 5th place. There was only one rider right behind me, and we made our way through the technical singletrack up top. Somehow, I got bounced off a rock to the left of the trail. My bar end snagged a tree and I ended up getting clotheslined. My throat had a nice bloody scrape and my right knee and thigh smacked into the rocks on impact. I cleared the cobwebs, got back on and made about 2 pedal strokes when I heard all the air come out of my rear tire. Stupidly, I relied on the previously bulletproof tubeless tires and didn't have a tube or CO2 with me. Game over. Matt was on fire and I wouldn't have caught him anyway. Hopefully I can get him at Laddie's this weekend.

Gluek Road Race went about as well. We had 6 guys total for the Cat 3/4 race, and our gameplan was to work for Matt, who is on the verge of winning Rider of the Year for Cat 4. Lap 1 I attacked before turn 2. It didn't stick and I was reeled in immediately. Andy took off right after that and was soon caught. Another Birchwood rider attacked after the start/finish area on Lap 2 and stayed out for a while. The peloton let him dangle and soon caught him (I was too far back to tell who it was). I was on the back going into the climb, but made my way up front at the base of the hill and attacked. I was able to string out the field and Matt and James went by at the top with a couple of other riders. It looked like I gave them a good gap, but it eventually came back together. I got dropped soon after that, and instead of being smart and DNF'ing, I finished the last two laps solo. Just like at Plainview, a giant hay wagon was blocking the entire road, which forced me and 2 other riders to stop and wait. I caught a guy on the hill on the last lap, and we traded pulls to the finish. I stood up to sprint and dropped my chain. I coasted to the finish to come in DFL. Sweet. 3 teammates who started the race with me where there in street clothes to greet me.