Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

After weeks of slowly climbing the ranks through the 35+ Cat 3's I finally pulled off a win on Sunday. The course was far and away my favorite course of the season. Lots of elevation change, off camber loose turns, and 90% single track made it a mountain bikers dream course. However, if you were not clear of the pack from the start, it would make for a difficult ride, as passing could be difficult on about 60% of the course.

Castle Cross - SM35+/35+ Cat 3 Lap 1 from Dale Riley on Vimeo.
I was in the top 5 for the first lap, and as we began the 2nd lap, the 2nd place rider went down creating a gap between us and first place. I was able to close the gap on a technical descent, then make my pass on the ascent before the next section of single track. And that was it! I did not see the rest of my field for the rest of the race, and continued to work my way through the 35+ open field.

Definitely my best race of the year, with only a few minor mistakes, and one dropped chain.