While it was sunny here...

it was wet and rainy in West Virginia. I never planned to be in West Virginia for this race. Mainly it was a monetary reason. Two hour drive plus entry fee and the cash starts flying out of my pockets. Luckily, Brian Lennon e-mailed me the week before and was trying to get carpooling together. I thought, "Well since we can spread the gas around I can afford to go down. So I requested off work and changed my training plan to be ready for the race.

Brian had to back out at the last minute, and I can't blame him as I too debated whether it was worth the drive. Luckily, Johnny P called me right after saying that he wanted to go. So that was that and I was going to Mountwood.

As we got closer the rain become heavier and we know that we'd be in for another mud Fest. Got down there with enough to warm up but not enough to pre-ride the course. I knew nothing off the course other than it's known for being muddy and that a hardtail would be adequate. Lined up for the start along the left side feeling pretty good.

We started last and I got the hole shot on the half mile road up to the single track. The trail immediately started to climb and my legs really started to hurt. I lost some places, I think I dropped to fifth place. The first 5-8 riders stayed close together, wheel to wheel, with the leader never being out of my sight. I started slowly picking off riders on the climbs until I was back up to second place. I was happy to follow him for a little bit and rest my legs from the hard effort to get back up to him. I stayed on his tail for a mile and half or so until on a short uphill he spun his tire on a root and had to put a foot down. I knew this was my time to attack and go off the front. I passed him as he was putting his foot down and crested to hill and put it in the big ring and went off the front. No one answered this move and no one could match my pace for the remaining miles. My Kenda Karmas worked perfectly for these conditions, I barely slipped on the uphills and they stuck in the turns and my Crank Brother Eggbeaters shed mud perfectly and always clipped in perfectly. I crossed the finish line first of any rider feeling good.

Camba had another good day on the trail with Mike coming in first in Sport class and Rusty coming in 4th in Open Vet. It was also good for Northeast Ohio as Johnny P. finished second in the sport class (1st sport senior). It was looking good for a 1-2-3 in the sport class for Northeast with Darren in third for the first 4 miles but a mechanical ended his race early. Off the line it was John, Mike and Darren leading the pack into the first turn. Great Job to all the CAMBA riders that showed up.

Thanks to Bike Authority, Crank Brothers, Kenda, and Rudy Project for the support.