Leadville Winter Mountain bike race 2

Saturday was the second winter mountain bike race in Leadville.   This one was a night race at a Nordic center near Tennessee Pass about 8 miles from Leadville.  We left early so we could make it up in plenty of time, so we stopped at a cafe sort of place before the race.  My pre race meal consisted of funnel cake, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and a large carmel mocha latte.  65 people started the race at 7.  The starting temperature was somewhere around 20, with clear skies and a full moon.  I got to pre ride a bit of the coarse, so at the start I was feeling good and opened up from the start.  My new panaracer rampage 29x2.35 @ 18 psi in the front offered much more stability.  Also, pushing a 32x20 this race vs the 32x18 was much better.  I did have a few lighting issues about halfway down a long, winding downhill which consisted of pretty soft snow.  The coarse was designed well with some winding downhills, which when I picked good lines, I could carry a fair amount of speed, even in the snow.  Physically, I felt pretty good and was able to hold a pretty strong effort.  I finished 6/15 in the single speed category.