Dirt Spanker

Working 10-14 hour days for the last 3 weeks then being sick the last 3 days didn't bode well for the Dirt Spanker. But, I raced anyway. Last year was super hot, this year it was cloudy, mid-70's with off and on rain. So, temperature-wise it was perfect. Trail-wise, not so much. The race starts at the bottom of the ski hill and shoots you all the way up with no warm up. A quick bomber descent then a super steep, rooty climb and you're in the singletrack. Or in this case, the grease. I had zero traction and was sliding all over the place. Every corner, root or log was an extreme effort to stay upright. Nothing like putting all your energy into staying upright instead of moving forward. The brand new trail was the worst. Several times I just about ate it. Then it started raining and it only got worse.

I was riding sideways as much as forward and I heard someone behind me and let them pass. It was Longley. D'oh! He kicked my ass pretty much every race last year and I was determined not to let it happen today without a fight. I did what I could to keep him in sight, and on the climb out at the end of the lap, I gave it some gas and passed him. One small victory for the day. Second lap went a bit better, still no trust in the tires though. Third lap I was feeling fairly good all things considered. I caught up to a Kenwood guy and used him as a rabbit. We caught up to about 3 other guys by the downhill, and I was praying that we could get around them. Instead, it was brakeville all the way down. Plan B was to sit on until the climb and go for it. All of the sudden I'm on my frigging back with my bike on top of me. My front wheel caught some grease in a corner, turned 90 degrees and launched me over the bars into the woods. I smacked the inside of both knees on the bike (I think) in the process. It was one of those deals where you don't even have time to check to see if your bike is still in one piece (or if you are in one piece), you just get on, ride and hope everything works. My knees were killing me and I just lost 3 places. I struggled up the climb one last time, survived the slip-and-slide downhill finish and was done.

4th in my age group, 23rd or something overall. Not bad considering I pretty much flipped a coin as to whether or not to race while sick. I had ice on my knees the whole drive home and still could not move by the time I went to bed. Mankato may not happen next Sunday. We'll see how mobile I am.

Props to Kevin for winning our group and 2nd overall. Jamison continues to rock. Big props to CJ for riding with the experts today (it's like his 3rd race or something ridiculous like that).