race #11, Swan River Rampage

was one of my better races of the season, coming in 2nd. Tough road climb to start, but the singletrack on the CO Trail is unbelievable, that made forgetting the pain that much easier. I don’t think I spent too much energy early. I wasn’t warmed up, felt like shit. For some reason, the initial road killed me. But I didn’t panic, and rode into the race well once on the CT. No mistakes at all on the first section, passed a few bumblin'-stumblin' fools, didn’t spend much energy, it was still kinda tight with racers. Then on Westridge I felt awesome. On Sudayn I rode up the Westridge climb on my 5.5 in middle ring the whole way, after having already ridden 21+mi earlier int he morning via Great Flume, GA Pass and the south fork section of the CT. So in the race I told myself having a 5lb lighter hardtail should enable me to ride a couple gears bigger. I rode 3rd cog & middle ring and passed so many guys. I'd guess at least 15 people in my class. It was a rare good moment this year. The end, I don’t know, empty tank? Zeke is strong, I was riding his wheel, then he left me with about 1/4mi left, but only by about 50yds. never could close the gap. But I held off the 3rd place guy too. Fun stuff. Results are by no means super important, but they're nice when they come around.