My last XC race was in 2010, 14 years ago. The 4 rides I've done in the last week are the only rides I've done in over 10 years. I had some confidence after the dirt crit on Thursday but seriously questioned if I had two hours of race pace fitness.
I pre-rode a lap easy. The course was really great without anything too technical but had a lot of places that knowing the course would allow you to maintain flow, which I definitely didn't at all.
My plan was to go all out again and fight for it, assuming I would either detonate a little over an hour in or just get smoked.
I got a great jump on the start and think I could have fought a little harder for the hole shot but knew the two youngsters would be better off and was able to jump into the woods in 3rd. I almost completely went over the front end about 30 seconds into the race, which would have been bad given the speed, and then slid out on a root on the first lap, but aside from that I rode an exceptionally clean race, which is amazing to me.
I blew up on the first gravel climb and lost two spots, one to a guy in cutoff shorts on a SS and one to Devon. I don't know what I was thinking, probably not much because I was totally gassed, but I never once considered that Arnzen was in our race. I also never realized that someone dangling 10-15 seconds in front of me (that I never caught) was someone I was racing because given the nature of the course you were lapping and seeing a lot of people. Total rookie mistake!!! TK jumped me right before the woods, which turned out to be a huge mistake as well as he had his son and his teammate ahead of us and Tim was content to do tail whips and catch his breath while they rode away. I made a mistake on a root and Bob went around me but as soon as we hit the field I jumped them both and went for it. There was almost immediate separation.
By the end of lap two I had Devon in front of me and caught and passed him at the start of lap 3. I genuinely thought I was defending 3rd place for the rest of the race and was eyeing Eli, remember that he crashed and I put time into him at the dirt crits a few days before.
The rest of the race was fairly uneventful. Did well with nutrition and the legs never really said no until 3/4 the way through the last lap. By lap 4 I was hitting the lines and using a lot less power which made a huge difference.
I came across the line 3 mins behind Brady, a minute behind Eli and 14 seconds behind Arnzen. I was completely floored by my performance and to say I was super happy would be a total understatement.
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