So, Kriston and I headed east together leaving Matt and Ben back in Fargo.
We arrived in Cable, WI to grab my number plate and all of the incidental info required for the next day. Then down to Hayward to check into our motel and relax for the rest of the evening. Our good friends Bill and Linda Benson from West Hawk Lake, Alberta had made the trip and were our next door neighbors. Always good to catch up as the Bensons are good people.
Bill and I pulled our butts out of bed at 6am Saturday morning to make our way to the start line and drop our bikes. Not as early this year because in our mind it did not really matter as things get so spread out anyway and the variables do not allow much of an advantage 20 yards closer to the start anyway.
The weather was near perfect! Sunny skies and a variable wind with temps at the start near 50 degrees. I like it cool and was loving it.
Bill and I are in the photo if you click on it and blow it up. Bill is no. 314 and I am in the Maplelag kit.
As always, things are chaotic after the gun goes off. A controlled start but a fast controlled start. Other than a 100 jumping jacks before I made my way into the starting area I was counting on the roll out to get warmed up.
I have had consistent good racing the last couple of weeks and was feeling good. In fact, I was feeling excellent, had good legs and was able to start knocking off people right away. Once we were on the Birkie Trail it only got better.
I had an awesome day. After 20 miles things were getting even better and I was working with the pace lines every chance I could. I linked up with a Flanders rider that was having the same day that I was. I never caught his name, but he had good lines and was going my pace and we passed a lot of people the last section of the race. As we made our way towards the end I noticed that the majority of the riders going our pace knew what they were doing which only built my confidence.
I cleaned the famous Firetower Hill and was on the last 10 miles when I felt my rear tire being a little sloppy on the turns. I am running tubeless and was not flat, but I must have "burped" some of the air out hitting a rock. I was seriously concerned but told myself unless I feel the rim bottoming out I was going to keep on rolling. It was a gamble as I had to take the turns a bit slower but could have lost more time stopping and giving the tire a shot of air. At the end I am not sure if I made the right decision as it was kind of a 6/half dozen deal.
So, things were not the same without Matt participating but I did have a blast on my bike and enjoyed the day.
As typical, check out all of the photos and results on Skinnyski.com. Bruce Adelsman always does a top notch job covering the race.
Saturday evening was spent having dinner in Hayward with a group of friends, popping a couple of cool beers and a bon fire reminiscing about the day.
Sunday AM the skies opened up with rain. Matt and I have always participated in the Sunday Funday events but I opted for a ride closer to Hayward and hit the CAMBA single track trails right outside of Hayward. Wow! It was pouring rain but the single track was Sweeeet! I made a good decision in learning about the area trails and will for sure be back to ride the hundreds of miles of trails available in the near future.
Another great weekend. Kriston and I had some much needed alone time, all is good...cheers!
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