I was seeded in the 7th wave going off at 9:18. With the combined early start time, seeded wave, and weather forecast I was confident for a 2hr or under finish. Watching racers arrive at the start area with snow on their vehicles started to deflate my hopes, the weather man got this one wrong. I second guessed my tire set up and pressure hearing of mushy muddy conditions in the last half of the course.
Well no changing anything now I'll just make the best of what I had set up. I got a good start, pace lining with the top ten in my wave through the first 4-5 miles I then settled into my pace. I had caught a group of 20-30 riders bunched up on the new single track section even coming to a complete stop which was probably the worst hold up of the whole race. In all I think this was one of my funniest.
The trail conditions on the single track really brought out the skill in racers, with the leaves being dry and slick in Kalkaska, to picking the fast line in the sand during the middle half, to using the leaves for traction in the muddy sections at the end.
I finished 17th out of 99 with a time of 2:10:30. A little slower than I was hoping for.
~Chuck Brenner
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