I did this race last year for the first time. Last year I had a really good race and it solidified that I should be riding my SS for a lot more things. This year after my plans changed about going to Marji Gesick, I knew this race would be an easy substitution for me. It is a lot closer and should be some great riding or at least I hoped. This year that race started at a different location than last year and very little of the trail was the same that I was on last year.
Leading up to the race I didn't get in the riding that I would have liked. I hoped my fitness was good enough to get me by. I had a lot of ache's to go along with the lack of riding, but still thought I could at least have a good day on the bike. I was not sure how fast I would be. We headed down Friday and picked up our race packets. We only had so much daylight left so we didn't drive anywhere to ride, we just rode the start section out for a half hour and turned around and came back. We made it part of the way up the first big climb so it was a good warm up.
After riding we went in to town for a bite to eat. There seemed to be a lot of people all around down town. The down town area was pretty cool and reminded me a little of Nashville, IN with all the shops and people walking around. We found a nice little place to eat and headed back to the hotel to get things ready for the morning.
