Chequamegon

We woke to an a gorgeous day on Round Lake. We are so lucky to have nice sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s. The start was amazing as we expected. Rolling down Hayward with 2500 mountainbikers is something everyone should experience. The energy in that mass was palatable. It had its sketchy moments as well. There were some crashes. Lea got stuck behind one and didn't catch up to me and Jenna until 500 meters to go( in a 40 mile race!) The racing was really fun. It was nice to do a regular cross country race since I've just been doing longer stuff.

I felt good until about 4 miles to go and with 2 miles to go I was in the deepest bonk of my life. The world went black and I wondered if I shouldn't just stop for the donuts. I was digging very deep. I was in the lead and really wanted to win. But with 1/2 mile to go Jenna Z passed with a fury. I held on to second by a couple of seconds. Lea was third. We were all within 14 seconds after 40 miles of racing. That is pretty cool. I had a trip to the medical tent. The first time in ten years of pro racing for an IV. It just goes to show how crazy bike racing can be. I know to eat and drink during a race, but I just didn't do.

Travis was rolling on his cross bike, Zack was on his Top Fuel 69er, Dusty was on his 69er singlespeed and Lea and I were on our hardtails. Amazingly the winner of the race, Jessie Lelonde was on a 29er singlespeed. It was the first time the race was won by a singlespeed. Big props to Jesse. Three out of the top five guys had mullets. Marco had the longest, but Tilford has been running one for the longest time.

The banquet after the race was a big trip down nostalgia lane again. It is so cool to see the mtbers of the 80's. They just look like real adventures who had a lot of time on their hands to play and explore their backyards. I imagine that I would have loved that era of the sport.