My plan for Sunday was to ride some super fun trails on Mary's Peak while Derek raced. But, it was snowing hard in Blodgett on Saturday afternoon and the trails I was going to ride are up above 4,000 feet so I was left without a plan. Well, what the hell, I decided to race. That's right, I haven't done an xc race in a few years and I don't even train anymore, but I figured what the heck...I'll just go ride with a bunch of friends who are racing! hahahaha. I may have still been influenced by the beers I'd had the night before!

It was snowing when we arrived at the race Sunday morning and it was very chilly. I didn't even bother warming up because I was too cold. How's that for preparation? We lined up to start and BAM we were off. The race is sick and cruel in that it starts with a giant climb that is 27% grade in at least one part. I climb up that at my own little pace but still pass a couple of my competitors. I'm not sure how many are ahead of me, but I climb on. The singletrack sections are all slippery mud and roots and some spots are just not rideable. I jam through the first big loop and am feeling good. I'll skip through all this race mumbo jumbo and leave it at this. I sucked in the mud on the last lap and got passed by another pro. She put at least a minute on me on the last section of singletrack that I had to run/slide down. I think I got 4th. Not sure. I had fun and for me now, that's all that matters.