Well, I raced my first Novice race today and came in 2nd. I was very happy with the results.

The race was much faster and much dryer this year than it was last year. My first lap I probably road a little harder than I should of. I did make it all the way down and up the cavity my first time through without getting off the bike. I actually ended up passing 2 people up the hill. I hit the long hill heading up to the field and it just drained the energy right out of me. The downhill was fun, but by the time I made it through the first lap my legs were hurting and I really had to push to my max the whole rest of the ride.

Besides that, pretty uneventful for me. Passed a couple people, got passed by a couple people and didn't have any crashes.
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

First xc mountain bike race for me in a year, and man did I need it. With Great Glen on the horizon, I wanted to use Moody to jump start my off road training.

I lined up behind the other 9 vets and stayed behind them all until the single track. Most of the first lap was spent picking people off slowly until I settled in where I belonged. By lap three my lower back really started to sieze up. I wanted this race to show me where improvement was needed and it certainly was showing me. I used the couple muddy spots as an opportunity to get of the bike and stretch out the back. This worked well and did not really cost much time. The last lap I picked up the pace to hold of a couple of closing riders and felt pretty good. Ended up crossing the line in 2nd place, still not sure how that happened.

The race had several small victories for me. The bike ran perfectly, was 4 for 4 through the cavity, no crashes, no bonk and no cramps. By the last lap I was starting to feel good about how my race skills were coming back. The first couple laps I made some novice choices and moves, but they were more funny than harmful.

Congrats to Ken on his second place effort. Man we are good this runner up stuff.

Next up it is off to Williston, VT for the Eastern Cup.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

Was present for the start of Ken's race and saw him proudly flying the Team Pinnacle uniform lined up in the front row. Ryan and I bumped into each other there and proceeded to the gravity cavity to watch Ken come through. We watched the entire group go down and Ken looekd the most confident with his speed and line that he took. Looked like a walk in the park for him. Down fast, up and high fast around the roots standing up and climbing out passing others walking. Good Job Ken you made us proud.
Had to leave to go to Wal-Mart so I missed Brian.