MNSCS#5, Mankato

This race is always hot, this year was no exception–mid 90's and humid, with a sun-baked climb to the top of the ski hill right at the start. I couldn't clip into my left pedal until about the first switchback of the climb, which dropped me further back than I wanted to be. This climb is on loose-gravelly singletrack, with very little room to pass (there are wheel-eating holes on either side of the trail from erosion, and more than one person went down), so I did my best to avoid the crashes and started passing about halfway up. I think I got into about 3rd or 4th at the top, and was able to hold onto top 5 for the first lap. I even caught and passed Jason Walters (and then I promptly spun out on the Staircase climb right in front of him, sorry bro). I was feeling pretty good, or so I thought.

Lap 2, second time up the climb I was really feeling the heat. I could tell I was slowing and needed to recover. I tried to push it into the singletrack, but was still a bit woozy. I was able to hold off most challengers until the bottom, where about 4 guys got around me, one of them my teammate Jamison. There's a wicked, technical downhill section called "The Luge". As I made my way down I saw Jamison down off the trail with his bike on top of him. He was okay, but his race was over. Too bad, he was flying and I'm sure he would have caught Walters for some team points. About 10 seconds later I almost ate it after taking an s-curved downhill way too hot. My ass was about as far over my back tire as I could get it and I still thought I was going OTB. The tires finally gripped and it was back to racing. (Note to self: replace brake pads before next race.)

Lap 3, climb felt a bit better. The cold water splash from the feed station worked wonders and I was able to ramp it up a bit. I had lost some ground on Lap 2, but at least now I was able to maintain my pace. I could hear someone right on my wheel through the "Maze" section on the bottom, and could see Tom and a few others not too far behind. I gave it everything I had up the Staircase climb, passing one rider at the top of the lift. He grabbed my wheel and was right on me through the entire Luge section. When we popped out of the woods for the final 200-300 meters to the line, I popped it into the big ring and hammered. He was still right on me when we approached the final left-hand bend to the line. This is singletrack cutting across the grassy ski hill. He tried to pass on the outside in the grass which gave me the advantage and I held him off for the sprint finish. That was a lot of work for 8th place, but a small victory nonetheless.

8th out of 30 in my age group, 12th overall out of 98 Sport riders. 3 weeks until Red Wing to work on that second lap recovery and endurance. It was nice to have teammates to hang out with after the race, glad I joined PCR. Should have some photos soon.