Cold Snow Wind Rain

Can you say COLD SNOW RAIN WIND... I think there were other 4 letter words uttered like pain and hurt but it was an awesome course at Green Acres tubing hill in Lake Elmo. The course included a sand crossing, epic hill climb, fast descents, muddy switchbacks and a great bunch of spectators to brave the 37 degree 58 MPH winds. There were 35 men in the cat 4 race poised to push each other to their limits. The race started by sending the group to the first climb of the day. I was caught behind a group that quickly dismounted and slowed the pace. I managed to weave my way through the bunch and made my up the lung busting hill. With my heart rate maxed out I settled in to ride with the lead group. Too many over achievers in the group and 3 riders got away after the first set of barriers.

I remained on the hunt the entire race hoping my mountain bike skills would help me catch the roadies that broke away early. I had one slight mishap when a rider went down in the sand crossing directly in front of me and tested my bike handling skills. I cleared the sand section without hitting a fellow rider and keeping myself up right. The near accident gave me a rush of adrenaline that enabled me to actually stay on the bike for the next accent(I ran up the hill 2 of 5 laps).

With the help of the cowbell crew (more cow) and my mother handing off water bottles to me each lap I finished 7th overall. Mark representing the House of Pizza improved from the previous day to finish a respectable 12th place. Still no sign of Ray........ there must have been a warm pot of coffee and gooey pastries nearby.