Aches, pains, bumps, bruises, swollen left knee, right hand an odd color of purple....geez, that course was tough on me. I got a horrible start, which was made even worse by the dust. I got around a couple of guys, then crashed when the dust covered up a nasty rut and the guys I passed got around me. I made up some time in the nasty creek and was mid-pack when we came out of it. I rode O.K. for awhile after that, but on the second full lap I crashed in the tight stuff next to the railroad tracks and whacked my knee on a rock. It was a little sore, but I started riding hard and had moved up to 3rd place when I came across Matt Coffman, who was leading our class when his clutch line broke. I caught up to Ray Osia, now in first, and choked on his dust for almost a full lap. Almost impossible to pass, but we went into the creek section together and I decided that was going to be my only place to pass, so I gunned it through the deepest water and got around him just before the scoring trailer. I had a hunch that Ray was going to try hard to pass me in the open area around the pits, and with his big 400EXC he braked late and got inside me at the last turn before heading into the tight stuff around the railroad tracks. But he swung out wide and I was able to cut back inside and just barely beat him into the singletrack. Just after that, unknown to me at the time, he got a flat front tire and had to go easy, but I figured he was right behind me and I rode hard to the finish. I got a little too agressive in the creek section and crashed in the rocks (was less than a quarter-mile to the finish), so now I have a big purple bruise below my thumb.
The good news is that I won the Open B class and finished 20th overall, but I am paying for it this morning. Somewhere on the course, a couple of my boot buckles were completely ripped off, threads and all. And a tree branch slapped my chest protector so hard that I have a 6" mark on my chest. I iced the knee last night and am hoping the swelling goes down on its own. The bike looks no worse for wear...the ol' girl just keeps chugging. Pretty well run race, started on time, and always nice to try out a new course.