Change of pace

Before I left for NVGP I promised a co-worker (Mr J. Ross Fraboni) that if I got for some reason got shelled from the race, and the weather was nice, I would do the MN mountain bike race on my cross bike (it was in Duluth). So going from the peloton to the trails was on the menu.
The race was out at Mont Du Lac, one of the lesser known ski hills in the area. The local MTB association COGGS has put in some solid work there and made some really nice trails. Quite a few roots, but besides that real nice.
Anyhow, for the hell of it I did the expert race to see what would happen. With there being a long steep climb every lap, and extra long and steep for the start, I was sitting pretty with the cross bike. I was expecting a cross style start, but it was much slower then that. Kinda nice...
The only sections that I really lost time were the descending single track. The first 3 laps I got smoked there. But as soon as the trail went up I would gain all the lost time back. On the big climb I would usually gain enough time to stay ahead of anyone close to me. The 3rd time up the big hill my arms started cramping, so I trotted up it nice and easy, my gearing was a bit hard. Two guys caught me and I knew that in order to beat them, I just had to stay close through the tricky stuff. I did just that, one guy crashed, and the other never got more the 20 meters ahead. Coming into the final climb I blasted off. I think I ended up in the top half.
Take that all you who said it was not possible and that I would get last.

Pictures are from where the watermark says they are.

Mountain bike racing is really quite different from the road. When you get tired, slow down and recover, then go hard again. It was not bad. Despite my arms cramping I had a good time, I dont really think I want to do too many mountain bike races on my cross bike. But a few is not going to hurt! I also saw Super Rookie, did not expect that at all. So despite rumors that he does not ride bike, he maybe just chillin with Sasquatch.

Looks like they are having a good time!
Also watch these.

On a completely different note. I looked at my training journals from the last 3 years. A very obvious pattern of me racing poorly nearly exactly one month after I have "legs tired" written down, I'd say 90% of the races I felt like shit fit the pattern. As well as often after time off or easy weeks, the races one month following my results were strong. To bad I just found that out now, instead of using my logs like I should. I really need to pay more attention to the information I collect. I've got the tools, now to try and figure out how to put it in action.