Lions & Tigers & Climbing, oh my!

It was a brisk Sunday on which I found myself headed out to Danville, PA for the Tour de Tykes XC, stop #2 of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series. With a relatively early start time, I awoke at 5:30am (after getting to sleep early for once, abadabing!) to make some kick-ass french toast, pack up the bike and gear bag, and head up to D-town to pick up my travel partner for the day (Scottie W in the house!).

The drive was full of jokes, stories, and good vibes as we were both looking forward to some bike games and good trails. Arriving on time, we broke out the tent and checked in for the race. Luckily I had the foresight to pack warm-up pants and a winter jacket, as it was a titty bit nipply out, and was warm and loose for the race start. Meeting up with The Experience and B, I set out on a preview of the race's starting climb and first sections of singletrack. Very Nice (said in Borat voice)! I was happy that the trails were pretty sweet and would make up for the high volume of vertical we would be attaining on the day (roughly 4500').

Lining up in the front this time, I focused on the task at hand and when the starter called 'go', I only missed clipping in once, keeping my start position and entering the singletrack at the top of the climb around 8th. The race was relatively calm, with nobody getting in anybody's way, everyone seemed to be making clean passes, and we all knew what was ahead of us. climbs made way to quick transitions toward descents, which made way to quick transitions to climbs. Very little chance to spin your legs out on a flat section, which made it important to stay calm and focused on the trail ahead of you, not in front. My only mistake came at the end, when I was closing in on 7th place and made some mistakes that prevented me from catching the wheel and making the pass. These mistakes mostly consisted of me getting over-excited and blowing through sharp corners. Seems as though bright yellow course tape isn't visible to me until it's wrapped around me. Quickly untangling myself the final time, I made the astute decision to get my shit together and just focus on riding smooth until the end. At this I succeeded and crossed the finish 8th on the day. Matt scurried in just behind me in 13th. Solid early season race for Giant Mid-Atlantic!

Afterwards we all enjoyed some Intercourse (beer) and talked about how awesome we looked in our new team issue Custom Oakley Jawbones. Not a bad day.

Sorry for the lack of pics, if I manage to scrounge anything interesting up I'll add them later.