Racing is not going to get in the way of my riding

Jake and Will hitting the Trail at Black Hills on Wednesday.

The world should have ended on Saturday. For two weekends in a row, Matt and I rode together. That has happened........well never. He convinced a 74 mile Canal/W&OD ride would not effect my racing performance the next day. Well it did, read below.

Sunday I met up with my BFF Todd, some Outlaws and friends at Schaeffer Farm for the first Cranky Monkey there.

I will say I was a little tired from the day before. But I am always tired and I complain a lot.

The race started with a road sprint. I gave it my all to make it to the singletrack ahead of as many racers as I could. I figured I could rest when we hit the singletrack. I was wrong. There were guys pushing me from behind. Plus there were riders in sight. The competitor in me kicked in I pushed it. I was able to get by 2 or 3 people when my team mate Ricky D was the next rider in line. I pushed myself to catch him. I caught him on a small hill. I wanted to pass him but I just did not have the go to get by. He put a rider between us which gave him a little space. I thought I would just pace myself and let him come back to me. It was obvious I pushed to hard. After a while I began to make up some ground. I just about caught him again. But I could not get on his wheel before we hit a downhill. He was killing me on most everything except for the climbs. At some point Greg got by me. He was pushing a little hard so I just let him go. The whole race consisted me chasing Ricky. Nearly catching him then him getting away on a downhill or curvy section. Ricky is really good on the flowing sections.

On the second lap I was about to catch Ricky where the Red trail connects with the Yellow. There is a root right at the intersection I had to pick a line. I have never had any problems here before. I picked a line which caused my front wheel bounced off the root. Which sent me heading straight for a tree. I locked up the brakes which caused me to nose wheelie a bit. I smacked my head squarely on the tree. It pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I waited a second, a little stunned. But I felt I could continue. I finished the race feeling stronger then at the start. I came close to catching Ricky on the last real climb. But he just killed me on the downhill after wards. I only passed 2 or 3 people and was only passed by Greg. It was like a boring Nascar car race where there is no passing. Don't get me wrong it was a great time. EX2 puts on a great event.

The race was painful, but aren't they all? Fun but painful.

3 Outlaws finished in the top 10. Todd finished fifth ( I never saw him after we entered the single track) Ricky D finished 8th and I finished 9th. I don't know how many were in our class. I was told more then 30. Great Job guys!