St Cloud; MNSCS X

the final event of the season couldn't have come soon enough. With a long season of training and heavy racing, it was a welcome relief for this one to be over. :) Coming to pre-ride on Wednesday, I had to take this race more seriously than last year. Last year, I had a position locked up for the season, so I just raced for fun; regretting it the whole off-season for not pushing harder. This year had to be different, with a close scoring in the top six, it was going to be tough.

It started off with Sportel, Luke Baker, Jamison, Martens, a few others and myself all on the long leadout into the first lap. I settled in behind Jamison and it was a tough, tight run through the new challenging spur. I was able to hold off Baker and Martens for the first two laps until I ended up running my bike into a few trees. I was very lucky on this one because the two trees were separated enough to allow my front wheel to go between them, the trees flexible enough to bend when I hit them with my bars. Upon hitting, I was sent OTB into the treees, smashing my collarbone and tangling me into the trees. Martens and Baker were quick to pass after this one. Thankfully i was able to get back on and keep going. After another great handoff from my wife, I had a lot of catchup to do now. I was able to pass Baker in the new "expert spur", only to be halted when my chain shifted into the spokes; grand! This is the spot I sat for the rest of the race. I turned up the pace afterwards to close a gap on Sportel, but he ended up besting me at the finish to give me a 6th overall; 4th age. A good solid finish to a long season. Time for some much needed R&R now.

Chwammy XXVI

Went to the Chequamegon 40 for my first time. I only had one goal in mind for this race: finish in a 2:30's time frame. Not really training for it and not knowing what to expect, I was a bit reluctant to start. I had staged my bike at 05:30 with a good spot. The start was definitely not what I expected; I was expecting a more modest pace through town, but next thing you know, we're flying down the road over 30mph. Next year, I won't be so naive. I ended up having to play a lot of catchup to get into a good group. Heading into Rosie's field, I was knocked over domino-style when a rider steered into me. Picking up and continuing, I settled into a pace that would suit me for the duration. In the last 6 miles, I started cranking up the pace since I felt pretty strong. Coming into the finish line was Jack Baker of MNSCS, another rider and myself in a 3-way sprint. It was a classic finish with a final time of 2:36. ;) After washing down the bike, we headed back to the motel for some family time. it was definitely worth the trip!

Laddie's Loppet

Headed up to Maplelag resort for the weekend "Laddies Loppet" stage race over labor day. The Maplelag resort and Richard's family put on a great hosting for all. The festivities started with the time-trial on Saturday morning, which went pretty well, allowing me to post a 2nd in Comp open. The STXC came on Saturday afternoon and it started out fast with Wally leading out the group. After hanging with the leadout group, I ended up overshifting the chain & causing some major chain-suck. This forced me into doing more catch-up. I eventually caught back up and was able to finish out with a 3rd place; not bad for my first STXC race!

The events continued with the final event being the XC race on Sunday. After cheering on fellow team-mates in the citizen & sport races, it was time to line up for our event. The start was fast, as usual with a Wally taking the hole-shot. After staying on his wheel, I was able to pass him before going into the first set of drops. At that point, I started to push the pace hard and was able to hold the race-lead until the last 1/3 of the final lap when a strong Seth Carlson passed me up. At that point, we both had a pretty good gain on the majority of the field. I was starting to slow soon then cuz of the course intensity. Finally, I was able to close out some of the gap between Seth and me for a final finish of 2nd overall, 1st in age-group. It was a great recap to the weekend, which allowed me to collect the overall GC leader in Comp open.

The changes to the XC course this year were incredible and made for a definitely challenging and exciting race.

I definitely look forward to next year out there.