Bone Bender 3/6 hr MTB race - Smithville Lake, Mo

Hadn't done a marathon-length mtb race in 2 years so I had no idea what to expect. Absolutely perfect weather this year. I missed this race (mudfest) last year, but this time around, we couldn't have asked for better conditions. A bit chilly at the start but that was more than welcome. At least severe dehydration crossed off the list of things to end your day. The LeMans start was crazy. The "front row" was about 50 guys wide, and since I really struggle running, I was mired back in the 20's somewhere coming up from the beach to the bike staging area. I lucked out with the bike placement and got by about 1/2 the guys still running to there bikes. A couple hard efforts on the pavement before the singletrack, and I got into good position. Tige Lamb got the holeshot and was going away with Jeff Winkler, Kent McNeil and myselft in two. the first lap pace was crazy fast. Things eventually sorted out with Kent taking the lead with me following, then Tige, Jeff, and Cameron Chambers. Cameron got by me around the mid-way point and Jeff not long after that. The pace of the first lap was a little harder than I was prepared for, and with the real possibility of doing 4 laps, I needed to chill. 2nd lap felt a bit flat after such a hard first lap effort. Had a couple Gu packs and that seemed to help. Omaha's Stephen Jarrett (Kent's teammate) came by shortly after starting lap 2. Felt better on lap 3 once the Gu packs had kicked in. It was close on time so I wasn't sure if it was going to be 3 or 4 laps so I made sure I drank plenty and used every Gu pack I had with me. Sure enough, came in about 5 minutes under 3hrs. The 4th lap was all about spinning the right gear, standing and stretching, and trying to avoid a complete implosion. Fortunately the course doesn't have too many steep climbs that could really sting you you were on starting to cramp up. I could occasionally see the 4th place guy maybe a minute back so I couldn't exactly put it in cruise mode just yet. Came in around 3hrs 45mins and completely empty. Very cool race, Locke and crew put on an awesome event. Might be my last MTB race in KS or Mo and happy to have made it this one.