Wow what a trail! It was my first time to the Big M xc ski course and I had no idea what gear to run. The ground was bone dry and the trail was super fast. Going on info from friends and course profile, I opted for 34×19….I should have gone bigger.

The race started 2 miles up the road from the Big M parking lot. When I rolled up to the starting line I positioned myself in the third row. I knew if I started from there I could spin and draft off the front line.It seemed to work pretty good. We took off with a lead out from a car. The pace was high from the get go. We dove into the parking lot and jumped onto the trail. It was single file right away. I knew that wasn’t going to cut it for me. It was a slow train….I don’t think so! I started riding around people as soon as we came to some small climbs. Its always the same story when it comes to passing someone at the beginning of the race. There is some bumping, pushing, and some bad attitudes. But, I take it in stride. I apologize and keep going. You have to get out there soon regardless how long the race. The leaders are hammering and don’t have anyone in front of them.

So back to my race….I ended up settling in with a group of riders that kept a pretty good pace. The beginning section was fast and flowing. It was beautiful out there….lots of pine trees and ferns. After the first little bit of trail we popped out on a sandy road that sucked severely. I tried to hang with a group of geared guys but it was too high of a cadence for the small gear ratio I was running. I decided to ease the pace until I had checked out the whole course. We eventually went back into the tight twisty single track and I started gaining ground on the bunch that passed me. The trail evolved into some rollers and that made for some easy take overs. Before I knew it I was approaching the aid station…I skipped it. I had a full bottle and felt pretty good. I caught another group of riders and joked with one about the lack of hills. After a mile or so we came up on some longer hills. The rider I joked with said “Heres your climbs.” I put the hammer down and passed many riders. The end of the lap is a fast down hill with a few quick turns here and there and then ended with more sand…there is plenty of sand in Michigan. I crossed the Start/Finish line then stopped to fuel up. I rolled out quickly with maybe a 1 minute stop. My second lap I could tell the  spinning was getting to me. I tried not to focus on it and found a distraction…my bike. It was making lots of noises. Everything I didn’t lube after the abuse at the Mohican 100 was making noise. Also my chain tension was loose. My chain never came off, but it was a concern. I just crossed my fingers everything would stay together and take the abuse of two more laps. I kept a good pace on my second lap with no real excitement, passing as much as I could and staying smooth. Before I knew it I knocked out lap #2. I stopped again for water/cytomax fuel and headed out for the last lap. It was heating up and fortunately we had a nice breeze. My third lap start was rough. My legs felt heavy and those first small climbs made for a slower start. I got over it and focused on keeping my legs spinning. I ended up catching a geared rider and a fellow single speeder. We rode together keeping a solid pace. About 7 miles before the aid station the geared rider asked if I could spare a shot of water. I couldn’t do it… I felt bad, but I had a cytomax mix and its my fuel. Besides that, I had emptied one bottle and then ended up finishing the second before the aid station. I had to stop this time at the aid station. I had 16 miles to go so I  filled up one bottle and slammed to cups of water. I left the aid station in pursuit of the single speeder I rode with before I stopped. I caught him and we rode together for another 5 miles or so. We started hitting the climbs for the last time and a dropped him. I kept the throttle on and caught many more riders. I crossed the finish line and ended up 6th in the Single Speed class. All in all not to bad a finish. It felt kind of like doing 3 cross country races in a row. Next time…bigger gear.

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