With guys like Travis Brown, Mark McCormick, Brandon Dwight, and a host of other fast guys, this was going to be EPIC. The muddy ruts from the previous days races were frozen solid and treacherous. Several inches of fresh snow fell over night and it kept snowing throughout the race. I had a terrible start position but that really didn't matter. I was able to move up about 30 parts on the long paved uphill start hill and then got by other 20 or so as we hit the grass and guys started hitting the deck everywhere. I kept it upright and picked guys off one after another. The first lap was a mess in the traffic but once I got past all of that and up into the top 20, things were easier as the talent level was higher and the lines could be picked easier. The main line was getting too much traffic and polishing out so the the fastest route was often off-line in the fresh snow. I managed to pull off 16th place out of 90+ starters. Not too bad. A better starting grid spot would have made a top 10 for sure. NEXT YEAR, I'll register a little earlier. An old teammate of mine on Nantucket Nectar/Specialized took the win ahead of Mark McCormick who was right with Brandon till he crashed into a lapped rider. Tough Break.
