I used to hate this course, now I'm kinda diggin' it. They made a few changes and additions that seemed to help the race conditions, namely some tough climbs to thin the herd.
Top 10 in the series got a call-up to the front for the start, that was sweet (I was in 9th going in to this one). Prologue out the gravel road, then down into the ski area on the grass for some roller-coaster climbing, then back around the main building and into the singletrack. I went out as hard as I could and managed to get into the singletrack in about 5th position. The trail was pretty decent but corners were slick from the rain. I avoided any mistakes up top (narrowly avoiding Jaimison's faceplant) and exited to the twisty downhill leading to the new climb. NICE!! A loose, gravely, rocky, sandy climb where you can pass (unlike last year where it seemed like about 90% singletrack). Then, a super technical, steep climb back into the lower singletrack section. It bottlenecked a bit behind some of the first wave riders, but I was able to maintain a rhythm and keep the rubber side down.
New singletrack section on the bottom is pretty flat. It snakes through the woods and pops out into a grassy doubletrack. The grass is a real speed killer, which leads to the long climb back out. I was able to pass some guys and had clear sailing in front of me for lap 2. The only guy on my wheel was Brian from Silver Cycling, who I held off as long as I could. He had that little bit of energy I was lacking and went around me. I was getting pretty tired and starting to get a little squirrly on the bike. I came off the bike a couple of times in some technical sections, costing me some time, but no serious crashes. I ground out the climbs and came in about 30 seconds behind Brian for 4th place. I'll take it, this is a tough course, especially with the conditions today.
Next week, Afton, and possibly riding in new colors??? Stay tuned...
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