The Bradbury race course rocked! The first 12 or so miles made the Pinnacle climbing seem tame and the final 18 miles was a seemingly never ending maze of undulating singletrack. Trail conditions were perfect and the hot and humid weather suited me just fine. The race started lemans style and very quickly the switchback climb up Bradbury mountain would begin. It was critical to get a good start to avoid what was sure to be a long hike-a-bike train once the masses hit the steep stuff. I had a decent run and hit the climb in the top twenty. My plan was to ride easily for the first 1 ? hours, focusing on hydrating and fueling, then hammer the second half. So I ease my way up the hills ignoring the urge to pass those in front of me, tough to do for someone who loves climbing. About 10 miles I catch and pass Aaron Millet, we have been the top 2 in points all year. As we transitioned from the climbing side of the course to the flat side I went on the attack and was feeling really good. Started passing many racers and worked my way up to 2nd in class, top 10 overall. Then a piece of trail debris wrapped around the cassette and knocked the chain down into the spokes. After what seemed like several minutes I finally get the chain freed and get on my way, but have lost every position recently gained. Now I had to ride at max speed to get back my positions. I managed to get most of them back and was closing in on 2nd place again. Then we popped out of the singletrack and there was the finish line, seemed so abrupt after 3 hours of racing. Ended up 3rd on the day, 4 seconds out of 2nd. The most important thing was beating Aaron and taking over the points lead. When the race was over I was covered with a mix of blood, bruises, dirt, sweat, snot, and a big smile. Hard to find races like this one these days, it reminded of when I first started racing EFTA. Good thing there are two weeks before Great Glen, going to need them to fully recover and heal up.
 
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