Leadville Winter mountain bike race 3

Chris, Marni, me, Michelle, Erik

Erik, my relay partner

The start, I was 3rd to go off, we departed in 30 second intervals

The scenery

Saturday morning was the third winter mountain bike race.  It was a relay race, and we went up with a group of three teams.  Marni and Michelle were one team, Chris and Shawn were another, and Erik and I were the third(singlespeed).  The race started with a time trial format, with one rider leaving every 30 seconds.  We each did two laps, a first one consisting of 2 miles of snow packed riding, and then a 6 mile ride on the road.  Erik and I were the third team, and I went first.  I had a decent start and pushed myself pretty hard.  After a little over a mile, Shawn (crazy fast) was in my rearview mirror.  I tried to pick up the tempo a bit to hold him off as long as possible, but I took a corner to tight, got into some deeper snow, and went over the handlebars.  I quickly remounted and took off.  Shawn passed me quickly, but I still had a decent time.  I started my second lap and tried to get into a good rhythm.  I knew with my 32x20 I would easily spin out on flat sections and downhills.  Two geared riders passed me within the first mile.  I used them as carrots and paced them pretty much the whole way to the finish, yo yoing a bit.  Shawn and Chris won the race overall, Erik and I finished first in the singlespeed category, and Marni and Michelle finished 2nd in the women's category.