With all the rain we had during this week, I was confident we were going to encounter mud and high stream crossings for my last mountain bike race of the season. Not only was I right but, the race started with a 1 mile ride down a gravel road just to encounter a stream turned river. Scott Davis, the race director, place a flat bed truck into the now river. With the water level over the truck tires, we each took turns jumping up onto the truck with our bikes to get to the other side. Then, the race really started. The course consisted of the Berryman Trail, Ozark Trail, and gravel roads. I had made the decision to race my single speed again. I spoke to the promoters and talked them into adding a SS category for females too. Not only did they decide to make this change for this year, next year they will be adding cash prizes for SS women. Thanks boys!
The race was a blast. I was able to race without stopping at the food drops until I needed to switch water/fuel bottles at final stop. Thanks to Jim Davis, I was able to waste little time doing this. Only low points for me were the endo off of a drop off (can't believe I wasn't more hurt) and gravel roads on a SS. But, Jim Davis's motivational screaming and flashing were motivation to bring me across this finish line with a grin for 1st in SS and 4th overall among geared bikes.
