MNSCS#10 Singletrack Escape
The final race of the season was a total mudfest. The "Jail Trail" (so named since it is on state property adjacent to the St. Cloud state prison) was completely soaked after 3 days of rain. The steady downpour during the morning races only made things greasier.

This trail is tight and twisty with no room to pass except for the few sections of xc-ski trail. There was a prologue lap that ran on the ski trail for about a mile and then led into the last section of singletrack before the laps began. It was a mass start so I did my best to pass as many people as possible before the singletrack. I moved up to about 4th going into the woods when all hell started to break loose. All of the mud and grass was accumulating on my bike and I lost my rear brake. Nice. I kept going since I still had the front brake, and still had sight of the top 3. Somewhere between the end of the prologue and the beginning of Lap 1 I lost my front brake, which meant I now had absolutely no stopping power or control. I thought about bailing but I was feeling great and riding well, still in about 4th place. My problem now was to figure out how to shave speed for all of the corners and not careen off into the woods. After I while I got good at dragging a foot in the mud and/or grabbing a tree to slingshot around a corner. I did take a few turns too hot and wound up smacking some trees, but no major damage done. I stopped to try and clear the rotors, but it didn't help at all, my brakes were shot. I let 2 guys go by me while trying to fix things, then got back to the race. I held my position for the rest of the final lap, until another detour off course cost me some time and I let someone get by. I ended up in 6th place, which considering I did 90% of the race without brakes is pretty damn good. The downer is that I was feeling great and have no doubt I would have finished at least 2-3 places higher if not for the brake issue. Oh well, it wouldn't have changed my overall series standings anyway. I ended up 5th overall for the season. Now I get to ride for fun for a few weeks and then start training for next year.