chalk up another for RACE #3

To avoid miscontruing a recap I'll just say that Saturday went super! Rarely do I feel like I'm the fittest guy to toe the line in a race so having a course that was narrower and more twisty than the "guardrail" in Hartley put me at an advantage immediately. I move similar to a boxer through the switchbacks and attack the short but steep climbs as if the finish is at the top of each. Patience allowed me to see my full output. Lowes Creek County Park was the venue and I was familiar w/the system as I've raced MTB here in the past. After diligently warming up I had sweat dripping from my brow prior to the cannon start. In the open field before heading into the woods I lead but waited to see whether anyone else wanted to. All I had on the agenda was to be the first into the singletrack as I like taking risks while shredding clean lines. It was well marked and even had mile posts. Somewhere around 2 3/4 miles in I knew I had been competing within myself and lengthening the gap over the runner-up spot at the same time. This is when I took a chance to jump inside "the hurtbox" for a little bit of S & M! In the end my avg HR was 170 bpm w/a maximum touching 186 upon crossing under the Swiss Miss banner. This data exceeded Boulder Lake which measured half the distance!! I'm very happy to perform like this at an event the late Timmy Dusick created. You'd swear his spirit was amongst many athletes present. Inside the expo center the banquet included awesome local food & drink and I received one of the coolest handmade awards from Mark Blaskey. A metal sculpture on this granite base which he is later going to mail an engraved plate w/my info. Results were first place overall w/a time of 38:35.

As for yesterday, we swung over to REI following breakfast w/my folks as I had a gift certificate and wanted to purchase a klean kanteen. Grabbed some lunch in Forest Lake from BK and continued north. Once back in Duluth we both decided to get new cell phones at Verizon before the SuperBowl. I had to check photos and stories about the World Cyclocross Championships as it takes precedence over football. We didn't turn it on until the halftime show that featured another wrinkled classic rock dude. Concluding a dramatic fourth quarter I went across the street for a ski @ 10:10 PM. The skate lane was extremely icy as I had difficulty herringboning some tough pitches when the track washed away. A lot of debris on the trail made some attempts to venture beyond the lights questionable. TC metro area tied a record of 46F on the weekend. Leaves me wondering what sort of racing will occur this coming weekend down there...

Classic Ski: 49 minutes