Finally back after some technical difficulties. Computers are great as long as they are working. This weekend was the Wizard of Wheels Winter W.O.W. held at Mansfield. This is my 2nd last race of the year. Just the thought of racing in November is cool. Now unfortunately my legs were still in the off season.

The conditions were perfect. This was a concern for everyone. We do live in the snowbelt area and normally would have a foot of snow already. On the drive down there were areas with at least a foot of the white stuff. The trail was pretty much clear. Temperatures were great also at just above the freezing mark.

Great turn out with over 140 racers. This also brought out some very fast racers. Where was my mind at. Well with no training in over a month and barely any riding at all I was in it for fun and to test the new bike. Now that didn't stop me from lining up with all my buddies on the front row. I did stay with the lead pack for the first 1.5 km but backed down pretty quick. In peak time no problem, in my body state right now it was asking to blow up really fast. By the top of the 2nd long climb about 4km in I had dropped back in pack. Way back. I had NO climbing legs and there is lots of climbing at Mansfield.

Finally got into the single track and got the heartrate down. Awww singletrack. I found a rhythm and stuck with a small pack. I slowly started to get back into the flow of racing and my pace picked up. I started to pass riders again. Still climbing like crap but was able to make up time in the singletrack. By the time I hit the feed zone I was back up to the mid 30's overall. The course was awesome and there was an amazing section of singletrack that riped through some pine trees. I had a huge smile on my face. There was also a great section of snowpacked trail that alot of people mentioned that they wanted to stop and take a picture.

The biggest problem I had this race was my seatpost slipping. My new post was not in in time so we had to shim one and it didn't hold. I stopped 4 times to get things back in position. This problem will be cured this week. The bike itself was awesome. I love it in the singletrack. I know it was a brave thing to do racing a bike 2 days after it was built and completely untested but what can I say. A little impatient. It is a great climbing bike and next season when I getting my legs out of the closet I think its going to help out alot.

I continued to pull in riders and coming into the final .5 km there was one rider still in sight. I did everything I could to pull him in but missed it by 3 feet. No legs for sprinting. I finished 8th in my division and 27th overall. The knees felt pretty good even with the seatpost slipping. This morning the body feel really good. I'll get a light workout in tonight. I'm on the road to recovery for the tracking problems of both knees. More updates later.