Maskenthine Psycowpath XC Race

Maskenthine was the 7th race of the Psycowpath series. Going into this weekend I was 1st in Cat 3 Open points, so a good finish was needed to stay on top. The course is a 5 mile loop and the race was 2 laps. I went out on the course early with Alex to get the blood flowing and get legs warmed up. The race starts out down by the marina on a gravel road then makes a left turn up the hill and then into the singletrack. I took off strong but as we made the left turn up the gravel road the legs were not l00% so going into singletrack I was 7th. At this point I was a little worried as I didn't want the leaders to get out of reach, the race had a lot of good riders. I made the turn into the singletrack and coming down the hill I made my first move passing a rider, and as I made a corner my rear tire burped... OH NO not again, if you know my prev history on my rear tire going flat you would understand why I was worried!. I took a quick glance back and everything seemed OK so on I went. At the end of the first lap I had worked my way up to 4th with 2nd and 3rd in my sights. As I made my way down the hill right after the start/finish line of 1st lap the 2nd place rider bobbled a bit and that slowed down 3rd place also, I was just far enough back I used my momentum and took the grass on the outside and made my move. Now not only did I have to set my sights on 1st I had to hold off the 2 riders I had just passed. I pushed hard thru the technical section and put a couple marathon riders in between for a bit of a cushion. I could now finally see the 1st place rider, at about 1/2 way point of 2nd lap I caught up to him and made the pass, I still had some left in the tank so I pushed it hard to again put a gap in between us. At the finish I was 1st, Kyle Blair of Norfolk took 2nd, Michael Dixon 3rd and Clint Robinson 4th. It all worked out in the end even though my start was not what I was hoping for. Great race and thanks to the Elkhorn Valley Cycling Club for putting it on and a great race course. Also thanks to all volunteers. Full race results can be found here: http://www.psycowpath.com/images/stories/Maskenthine_results_2010.pdf