We began with a fire road climb, but it quickly turned into North Mills singletrack. There was a rocky descent which I managed to ride (barely), a little bit of hike-a-bike, but the pay off was some super sweet, smooth, flowy single track with plenty of opportunity's to get air. I played it a bit conservative being unfamiliar with the trails but it certainly was fun to fly once in a while without worrying about going off the side of a cliff.
Aid station #1 at mile 14 came up in a hurry. Immediately after the aid station was another washed-out rocky descent that was rideable in sections, not-so-much in others. My shoe came unclipped in a section that should've been rideable and I ended up hiking down a section I should've been riding. I lost a few spots, but soon I got back into a rhythm. By the next climb back to the same aid station I had regained the postions I had lost.
We had a long fire road climb, followed by some on and off the bike climbing, but soon we had a LONG descent on some overgrown double track. I pedaled just for the sake of keeping my legs fresh but I could have just as easily coasted to the final climb. When that last climb did come, it wasn't super steep or technical but after going so fast for so long it felt painfully slow. Eventually we crest the top and descend to the finish line. Not that I wasn't glad to see the finish, but I felt like I could've gone longer today. Hopefully I'll have some energy for tomorrow's climb up Black Mountain to start the day,
I didn't get a chance to see where I finished today (yet), but I did manage a win again yesterday and I was up 39 minutes in GC at the start of the day today. My goal going into this race was a stage win and an overall podium. Needless to say I'm pleased with my results so far but I have to give all the glory to my God, my family and friends. There's no way I could do this on my own.
See you on the trails!
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