(photo by pappatop68)Low racer turn-out has taken it's toll and the promoters have thrown in the towel.
Those that know me, know that I am not a fan of the rocky trail. My friends are always amazed when I line up at X-Bar. Truthfully, I forget every year how much that course beats me up. I pre-ride the course on Saturday and think to myself "that wasn't so bad", but after 2 laps on race day I swear that I will never do that again!
This year I was keeping that promise to myself, with one exception. If Tanya (who was ahead of me in the overalls) did not show, and if I started and finished 3rd or better (which means there could only be 3 on the line) I would move up one place in the overalls and finish 2nd.
The AJ & I drove down on Friday and we arrived at the ranch early enough to get a lap in. I would be riding by myself as The AJ was still recovering from his surgery. I changed, got on the bike and had a nice ride around the ranch. Even though I was thinking to myself "it's not that bad", I still was not going to race if Tanya was there.
The area was hit with rain storms overnight and ranch received it's fair share of rain. I was glad that I had been able to ride the day before as that was looking to be the only riding I would be getting for the weekend.
Racers were rolling in, but no one was attempting the course. Finally a few brave souls went out, but they were soon to return as the course was just too muddy to ride. We started hearing rumors that the course was to be shortened to cut out the low areas and the worst of the mud. Finally the course was set and ready for riding by 5:00. Since we had not seen Tanya, I decided I needed to ride the course and I rode with Jen (who had never ridden at the ranch before). During the ride I had the epiphany that even if Tanya was there I still needed to ride the race, because if for some reason she DNFd and I still finished 3rd or better I could still move up on her in the overalls... DANG IT! Looks like I needed to line up whether I wanted to or not.
Sunday morning brought good news... no rain overnight, so the course would be in better condition than it was on Saturday. We got to the ranch and had better news, the start order had been changed. Where the original start had all of the Cat1 and Cat2 racers on the course at the same time, which with the reduced lap distance would have made for a royal mess, the officials split up the starts and that was a good thing! Bad news - not long after we got there Tanya drove in... DANG IT!
Long story shortened:
I rode some rocks
(photo by pappatop68)
others I walked
(photo by WTBikeGuy)
Tanya finished even though she had a mechanical. Good for her, she raced better than I did and deserved to finish 2nd in the overalls. I was happy with my third.
In closing, scenes from the road
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