My third race of the season the Root 66 Domnarski Farm mountain bike race. Although I felt good..I wasn’t tired..I climbed pretty good..and I had a decent result, the race ended up not to be a very good race for me.

The race starts with a pretty good climb that can break you pretty easily if not warmed up. So at the start I wanted to make sure that I got the hole shot going into the wood for the climb. I did. A couple of riders were behind me, but no one in front to impede my progress. Both riders behind me ended up passing me on a double track section of the climb, and they were both out of site after a couple of minutes. The rest of the race I was mostly by myself holding on to third.

I eventually got some company during the last lap, but as long as I could hold him off on the flats, I felt that I could create a gap on the descent heading back to the finish. The finish was immediately after a 90 degree hard right turn, and I didn’t want to be in a sprint situation. I new I could descend better, so I took that opportunity to create a gap on the descent. My plan was perfect until my front wheel washed out on wet rocks and I went down…hard. Yep, I did a faceplant. Fingers, elbows and shoulders and move and no blood pouring out anywhere…I’m okay. However, I could feel the welt forming just below my left eye.

I managed to keep it together for a 4th place. And as I write this, my eye is not looking too good and I am very sore. I actually look like I’ve been in a brawl. One or two days for the soreness to subside and I’ll be right back in the bike.