Greenbrier challenge mountain bike race report 4/29/12

great day... about 70 and sunny... this race was pretty close to me 30-40 min away which is  nice... i was able to get a nap and hot lunch before the race.

about 15-20 starters in the pro field (i didn't count)...i had a sorta good start... i was in 3rd place going into the first corner but i was then promptly passed by the majority of the field as i went up the first climb gasping for air... i was in the rear of the field  till the next bigger and longer climb... for some reason i was stronger there and picked off a lot of people and found myself back in 3rd place behind Chris Beck and Aaron Snyder and that is where i would stay till the end of the race... being alone for the majority of the race had its ups and downs... it was nice to not be stuck behind someone on the technical stuff... i felt like i could really open up and go faster in those sections... but if there was someone else riding with me i could have asked them how many more laps do we have because i lost count (we had 5 laps)...i  thought i needed to do one more... the race officials gave me a blank stare as i went out to do another extra lap...

for future races that are over 3 laps i am trying to come up with a system for counting laps down... something like an abacus that can attach to my handlebars.

teammate Arron Snyder had a great race... he came in 1st
and teammate Jeff Dickey was riding strong only about 30 seconds behind me in 4th place when he had a flat tire... bummer.

photos to come