Buck Hill Birch Bump

I had a good race on Sunday at Buck. I ran the best race I could and was happy with my finish. It was a little hot on the front climbs with the sun beating down, but that is to be expected for an August 1st race.

I started the race slow and dialed up the speed over the 4 laps. I had a good pace going until I pulled into the singletrack on the second lap. I hit some slow traffic, and couldn't get past a guy. I asked to pass and he acknowledged, but he never gave an opening. After about 2 minutes of me riding his wheel and shooting for holes, he says something to the point that he is not sure how to let me pass? The question didn't even make sense. After about 20 more seconds he pulls wide on a turn and I was able to get the inside. I lost the gap I had built on the racers behind me, and could hear them coming.

The rest of the race I duked it out with the #4 guy. He is a smaller rider with a FS bike, so he seemed to have an advantage on the climbs and rocky front sections. We raced the last 2 laps where he would gap me on the front climb, I would reel him in through the singletrack, he would gap me on the front section... On the last lap in the last section of singletrack, he gapped me enough to break away when we hit the front section. I tried to pull him back in, but the heat was really getting to me. In the end, he finished 12 seconds ahead.

Results: 5/12 in AG and 45/122 overall. Time was 1:03:54.