Another weekend of racing...I LOVE IT!

Yesterday was the 2nd day of the 2009 Angel Fire Chile Challenge. Both Kat and I raced the Pro Men's XC and boy, was it a tough course. As I mentioned yesterday, I have been racing this course for a long time and knew what to expect, but for some reason, I still chose to race on my hardtail (XTC Alliance Advanced). That was not a smart idea. Although the Chile Challenge course is fine to ride on a hardtail when you aren't racing, it really slows you down and beats you up during a race. I should have known this, but I am so used to racing on my hardtail that I wouldn't admit that the Anthem Advanced was the way to go.

Macky racing

Between my bike choice, my dead-last start (because I arrived at the start with 2 minutes to race time), and a bit of fatigue from my STXC win, I admit that I didn't have as good a race as I was hoping. I still ended up 5th, but had been hoping for a top 3 finish.
Kat had a pretty good race. He felt strong until the top of the 3rd, and final, lap when both of his calf muscles cramped. At this point, he lost 4 places and ended up 33rd. When we were swapping stories post-race, he mentioned that he also felt slow on his hardtail and wished that he had been on a bike that was a bit more forgiving...At least we both know for next time!

Macky and Kat post-race

I forgot to mention that I received and installed my Bike Pure headset spacer just before the STXC on Saturday. It looks sweet on my bike because of all the blue!