Hot Weekend

Cross country race on Sunday at Maplelag. Hot and windy was the forecast for the day and the weather guys hit it right on the head. After a full day of racing on Saturday, everyone was looking forward to a longer day in the saddle for the cross country events. Ben raced the Citizen class that started at 9:30 am. I was wishing that the schedule could have condensed as I am not a fan of racing in the heat. I was doing my best to keep my legs elevated, sitting in the shade and drinking lots of water. Ben was styling and rode fast in his class. The photo above was taken by Matt of Ben on the top of Suicide Hill one of the major climbs of the race that Ben had to go up 3 times. Nice work Ben.Matt raced Sport which started at 11:00am. The heat was increasing by the hour, but rolling single track in the woods helped keep you out of the sun which helped. The photo above is courtesy of Bruce Adelsman at Skinnyski.com. Bruce is not afraid to dig in there and grab excellent photos! Matt was 20th place out of about 80 riders. He rode like he knew what he was doing.Photo above again compliments of Bruce at Skinnyski.com. This is 10 minutes before I felt that I was hit in the head with a brick.

I raced the Comp class that started at 1:15pm. I had two loops of the famous Maplelag single track that I am familiar with as I have been riding and racing it for years. As expected it was HOT! I did what was required for food and hydration before the race, I was ready to go. As usual, I let too many guys get in front of me but I was fine with that due to the fact I knew where to pass and I was counting on my experience of the trail to help me out. The first lap went off perfectly. Going through the first lap by Kriston's count I was in 8th place with a fresh water bottle and a gel in my stomach. I made it through the second set of lake side drops clean and was riding with strong legs and confidence to finish the race strong......man was I wrong. At the top of Suicide Hill on the second lap the wheels fell off. As I climbed up to Bullhead Lake trail I was cooked, light headed and feeling nauseous. I have bonked before and I knew what it feels like and I had all of the symptoms but could not explain why as I had what I thought was enough fluid and food. I was overheating was all I could think of, soooooooo, I did what I could to maintain position and get through the race without killing myself. All of the guys that I had passed in the first loop must have smelled blood because they all flew by me in the last mile of the race. What a bummer as I had nothing in me to hold of their attack. I finished in 20th place defeated and ready for the next race. I can say that I had a blast and will work at hydrating different the next hot race. Thanks to Kriston for the water hand offs and keeping us all in line for our races. Ben on the podium grabbing second place in his class over all.
Matt on the podium grabbing second place in his class overall. Shay Franken from Rochester holding him off for first. If there would have been a competition for the goofiest shorts, these two clowns might have won.Linda Cooper, fellow GPCC rider raced the stage race and was 5th overall in cross country and 5th overall for the stage race finals - nice work LC. It was very cool to have her participate, wave the colors and be able to hang around and enjoy Maplelag after the race.Lars Ellefson catching some air at the Maplelag BMX track Sunday night. Maplelag throws a big BBQ post race. Steak on the grill and plenty of salad, bread and cool beers. A perfect end to a great weekend. Lars is back to the area for a couple of weeks after moving to Durango, CO with his family back in June.
Jake the Snake Richard's showing his stuff at the jumps as the sun was dropping fast. These guys impress me big time as I for one like to keep my wheels on the ground. Both Lars and Jake jumped up to the Expert class for the first time. These are up and coming riders that have a strong future to look forward to.

We rolled out of Maplelag Monday morning and were back in Fargo by noon. Still super hot with a cold front expected to come through to drop both the temps and rain. Another great weekend with the family.