Preliminarily our results are: Me: DNF front tubeless tire flat.

Bob: 8th in Vet II

Sean, this is Bob' s idea for me to give you a brief beginners perspective: As someone who didn't really do "team sports" before, I was more nervous to get up to that starting line, now that I am representing more than just myself. I was ready to go, though! Waiting for the countdown, the other riders and I were talking and sharing what we knew about the course trying to fight off the nervousness. It was great to see that they were just as nervous as I was. I kept going over in my mind all of the things I have learned since I started riding last September. Bob always tells me,"don't think too much about it. Just ride your bike and have fun." So, when it was time to go- I took off! It felt great and I was able to pull ahead right away. A brief grassy up hill and into the woods. The trail was fast, smooth, and fun. For the first time I felt confident in my riding ability and used the advice that Matt Orlando gave me about riding a race for a personal best not just to win...I still wanted to win, though! I knew there were only 7 other riders, so I knew I need to give it my best. I did just as Bob always tells me and I was having fun, riding hard, and still had the lead. I encountered some rocks that normally I'd slow down to cross, but I just kept up the pace and glided right over. This built my confidence even more! I passed another rider from the class ahead of me and began the first climb. Some quick singletrack that really flowed. I passed the mega-dip and thought of Bob, Matt, and Mark who would soon have to tackle it. The next obstacle was a double dip hill climb that I was following one of the junior riders over. I saw that he made it, so heck, why couldn't I? Normally, I'd stop and push it. I watched his line and attacked it! It was quite a rush confirming to myself that I could do it! Then it was over the boneshaker and out to some smooth single track. This is where I was planning on really picking up some speed, even though I was exhausted. There were several spectators at the turn cheering me on! Yelling first female! I was pumped now! Cut to the right on to the trail the a hard left and down I went! I thought I slid. Got back up and saw that my tire was completely off the rim! I got into my saddlebag for my air cartridge and tried to reinflate my tubeless tire showing my inexperience. In hind sight, with only one cartridge I should have thrown in a tube and gone on. Live and learn. I headed back out the trail towards the team tent. I then worked the cameras and cooler for the enduro riders. When one of the ladies from my age group finished she came up to me and asked what had happened. I told her and she was sympathetic and then told me that she was right behind me, "until the woods and you were gone!". All-in-all it was a great day. Even though I didn't finish I learned a lot.

For Bob's synopsas: Loved the weather. This is his type of whether. Was debating haw to do the race since he injured his back a couple of days ago at work. Started out fine with the rear shock on lockout. raced the entire first lap that way. Then his back pain moved into his lower back that plagued him the remainder of the race. He flipped it over to pro-pedal during the second lap and felt out of sorts.At the begining of the 3rd lap he noticed that his seat had slid down ~ 2inches. Not wanting to give up places he decided to just ride it out. 3/4 of the the way through the the lap, he started to cramp at the top of his knees up into his quads. He still was able to sprint to the finish line.

Carisa