There are no pictures from any of the Sunday races because of a camera failure that will require shipment back to Canon. Very bummed.

I had another good warmup on the roads today. My mind wasn't in the best of places for this one though. Winning yesterday gave me a positive boost, but it made me put a lot of pressure on myself that I hadn't really expected to have until the MAC starts up. My legs were understandably tired from the previous day's effort, but I felt good enough to be aiming for another win. I got on the front row again for this one, but the result was quite different. I had at least as good a start as yesterday, but this time I was third or fourth wheel rather than taking the holeshot. Since this course was much more technical than yesterday's, that was cause for immediate concern. I knew there was no way I could be a follower and place as high as I wanted.

One sandy section in the woods after the big hill was torn up from all the racing yesterday and so I elected to run that every time after the first lap. I stupidly tried to ride it even though I'd failed in warmups and I got gapped just a bit. I made up most of that gap back on the flat sections, but they were incredibly bumpy sections of grass that made it difficult to easily gain ground. Going into the other woods section, I took a horrible line, got passed by a few folks and found myself way overgeared. I fixed the problem relatively fast, but by that point, the front group had put significant time into me. I thought I might get it back when we hit the road, but the gap was too large, Lindstrom, Bradshaw, and another rider were up ahead.

Today's course, along with being much more technical, eliminated a huge power section and instead switched back and forth on itself to the point where I was forgetting which part of the course came next. I was riding myself into a daze and struggling to hold position. I believe that initially I was in no-mans land between the lead three and the rest of the field. I was working hard in attempting to crawl forwards in position, but I started to realize I was losing the battle when I became part of a group from behind me.

This group consisted of myself and three other riders and it was quickly understood, once we passed a guy falling off the lead pace, that we would be racing for third place. Four guys duking it out for a spot on the podium is a brutal affair. It's even more brutal when you feel as though you must lead every technical section to allow your lack of skills to slow the group. So for several laps, that's exactly what I did. I would go just fast enough that everytime we got to the horrible offcamber and 'S'-turn, I was in the lead. And everytime we had to make our way around a very tricky sandy turn, I was in the lead. And everytime we went into the final woods section, I forced myself to the front.

Well, that worked for a while. But at somewhere around two laps to go, my group mates got wiser. I think the realized my weakness and started fighting for position going into the technical sections. At least twice I was passed, as we hit the sand going into the final woods. It was so frustrating because I kept trying to find a line that would allow me to keep speed going and I couldn't. I was lucky enough that I had enough gas to get back with whoever had passed me then each time back on the road, but I knew in the back of my mind that eventually that wouldn't be the case. It also wasn't allowing me to put any time into them on power sections. Oh, how I was wishing we still had the lap around the field today!

With one lap to go, I was still in my place at the front of our pack, but I was hurting bad. I got no real gap up the mountain and I lost one spot before the off camber and 'S'-turn, but I held on and kept digging. I forced my way to the front one last time and led up the log run-up. But that's when two of the riders started to get very aggressive and in the sandy turn that had been giving me fits all day, they both went for the kill and passed me. I had no choice but to watch a little gap form and then attack like mad to pass them before we went into the woods the last time. Well, I attacked and passed them, but I must have let up a bit too soon, or they were expecting my frantic pace because they attacked back and all three riders passed me again! I was suddenly at the back of the four person pack I'd led for what had felt like an eternity. I knew that if I let any gap form I'd have to bury myself to get it back on the asphalt drag to the finish.

I watched in "horror" as Snoop, rode away from the other two in front of me and it was clear that the battle for third was over. It was going to be a three-way sprint for fourth. I lost time in the woods, but as soon as we hit pavement, I made up that ground and sat in the slipstream of the other two. I thought I had enough gas to win this sprint and I was very confident. I sat as patiently as I could and whe we saw the line, the race was on. The rider on second wheel (Cavanaugh) made his move and I made mine, but I had more ground to cover, and he had a surprisingly good finishing kick. We both stormed past the lead rider (Wolff) and towards the line with him winning by just a touch. I finished fifth.

Looking back over the course of the race, I have to say that I should have been at least third if I'd played my cards right. I worked too hard for too long and in the end I had burnt nearly all my matches. The competition was some of the best I've had in bike racing and I took up residence in the pain cave for most of the race. The technical sections of the course were my undoing and the mistake in the woods in the early going eliminated any hope of a repeat win. It's frustrating to "lose" a winnable race that early on, but sometimes that's how it goes. I didn't have the power I needed to make my strong sections hurt others and instead I had to use those sections to hang on for dear life. This was easily the most technical dry course I've ever raced and I did ok. Had I won that sprint into the woods the last time, I'm confident I could have improved at least one place. All in all, a great race for the early season--perfect to force me to work on my weaknesses.