The race promoter warned us of several muddy spots, several downed trees that were marked off because of lack of time to chainsaw all the recent storm damage, and several reroutes to avoid even muddier sections. I think we were all expecting 6 hours of hell trail. After a lemans start the small field of 35 riders piled into the tight single track with very loose sandy corners. The downed trees turned out to be mere twigs and the two muddy sections were pretty short and inconsequential. The loose sandy corners were the only problem, but by the 3rd lap they had been bermed up into buttery smooth tracks. Cameron burst out into an early lead, which him and Travis maintained throughout the race, adding several minutes gap to their closest competitor with each additional lap.
I started my first 2 laps fast then settled into a nice even pace, taking advantage of Cam or Trav at the transition area for water and nutrition help. Andy passed me on the second lap looking strong. Having no idea where I was in the line up, I just stuck to my goal of consistency. On the 8th lap I passed Andy and one other singlespeed rider, which boosted my spirits. Coming in for my 9th and final lap, Travis was anticipating Cameron any minute. I downed some water and hit the trail hard. Within minutes Travis caught up to me and paced me through 2 climbs, till I imploded. After that I fought off cramps for another 4 miles to cross the finish line in 2nd for the Single-Speed division.
Ethos had a great showing taking first in the Cat I 2 person, and 2nd in singlespeed. Getting jersey design finalized via local KC artist Jeremy Collins. Once they are complete, I'll post some pics.
JG
