Pinhead no More

You know that part of the Movie Fight Club when 

Ed Norton is shown not fighting Tyler but fighting him self in the parking lot.

That was how I felt mid race yesterday.. as I came unhitched and was in no mans land. 

Flashback to the drive up to Duluth on Saturday.

Passing through Eau Clair I get a call from SKJ and he informs me that the trail

was in crappy shape after the rain that fell on Friday afternoon.

He said that it was so bad that he was not sure that they would not be able to hold the event.

Hanging out in a gas station parking lot I made some phone calls and the kid 

and I decided to make the rest of the drive.

Plowing through a big cell of wet nasty storms I was happy that the bikes were in the car and not on the roof. 

The good thing was none of this rain was hitting Duluth, and the hope was things would dry out. 

As we got to the shores of that big ass lake the sun was out and we got out to do some riding.

Meeting up with Teammate Mitch Burns we climbed the 7 bridges road and tore around the top of the ridge. 

We dipped our toes into some of the single track and in some places it was unreal and in other pretty slick.. 

Sunday morning we woke up to sunny skies and cool temps.. should be a great day for a mountain bike race?

I was able to get out during the sport race and do a lap and the trail was in perfect condition

and I was getting excited for what was to be a fast fun day on the bike. 

Coming out of the woods the clouds were dark and starting to threaten rain. 

With fifteen minutes to the start the rain fell not hard but a good soaker..

50+ racers on the line and the front end was stacked.. At the whistle again I slip a pedal and pay dearly for it but was able to get back on and get into the train up the road.

Sitting in 5th behind SKJ the pain was creeping in.. Across the road and into the singletrack... This is where it got interesting..

We were flying but things were greasy and the bridges and roots were very tricky to navigate. 

Through lap one I was able to stay clean but now the sun is out and the trail is drying is some places and turning into a sponge in other places. At times I was on par hitting the corners just right  but I kept pulling then getting pass and had nothing to match the gaps that would grow. 

With one and a half laps to go sitting in no mans land I decided to just pick a pace tap it out and have fun,,, because now the trail was grippe fast and fun,, only issue was my legs were starting to give out. Two hours I made it across the line with a touch over 26 miles covered.. The result was not what I had wanted and had worked for through out the week,, but I kept it clean and enjoyed the ride.  

The team had a tough day with multiple flats and DNF's and even a Broken Finger for Dan D..

Not a bunch of time to recover as this coming week is going to be Afton,, "I am devins angry Legs"

and it is going to hurt,, but another day of climbing and fast fast descents.

I am just so happy that I get to line up and go toe to toe with some of the fastest 

racers in the upper middle west..

Time to think of things to come..