First of all, I have to ask "Where are all the women?" We need more mountain biker ladies out here to keep our sport competitive. Plus, you get to look at lots of shaved muscular legs in the men's classes.

Well, I felt like Dale Knapp going up against Saturn. It was JF2 (Kristi, Lora, and Stacy) and me. It is hard to feel mean and tough when racing against some good friends. I, however, was just happy to finally be racing again. I love to just try and go as fast as I can and hope that I have enough energy to make it to the finish line. The new course made the race especially fun - the downhills were more technical and the singletrack through that little canyon section far more enjoyable than a dusty road. Our race spread out a little with Lora Heckman being my main challenger. I was happy to see Lora going so fast after recovering from her broken collarbone.

JF2 will be happy they picked her up for their team. I felt pretty good the entire race except for some foot pain which was solved by stopping and taking off my shoe for a couple minutes. I made the mistake of getting too comfortable with the foot massage and Lora crested the run up hill just as I was putting my shoe back on. Now I had to go really fast and establish another lead. I thought all was well when just past the water station on my last lap, my rear derailleur cable broke. Now I had the choice of Small, Medium, and Large for gears. Luckily, I like to run because that is what I did all the way up the hills out of the far canyon. I am so glad it was hot and dry - I am not ready for cyclocross weather again. The rest of the race went smoothly and I pushed it the best I could with my gears available.

Thank you for a well run race and a fun, challenging course. I will be back next year and hopefully recruit some more women.

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