#629

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Made the 6 hour trek to Delaware/Maryland for the first xc race of the Mid Atlantic Super Series. I was looking forward to seeing some of what I consider to be the best people to race with. The long drives to these races are always forgotten after shaking hands with all the great people I’ve come to consider friends. Another good part about this series is that it never has a lack of  ultra competitive athletes in every class. Rather than attending a smaller race closer to home I would prefer to hit a venue like the Mass where in this particular case there where 400+ pre registered riders for a race slated as a shine only event (weather was calling for rain sat & sunday in the area).

Rolled into Delaware late Saturday evening and ordered up some JD Chicken from the TGIFridays adjacent to our hotel. Woke up feeling refreshed and got the pre-race breakfast of oatmeal, bacon & coffee.

We arrived at the race to hear that the start would be delayed by 1/2 hour to allow the sport class to finish. MASS usually runs their beg class early then the Sport race and the Elite/Expert goes later. I enjoy this because we get a little extra time to sleep in and less traffic on the course although there were still more than 100 riders out during my race this weekend.

The delay gave me time to say hello to a few people like Steven Hoover (Director of the Trek East Coast team), Jon Posner (Chris Eatoughs right hand man from the 24 Hour Solo video), Jeff Schalk (Trek Factory Ride), Dave O’Connell (Trek/Fisher Demo driver) and then there was this group of locals… Buddy Briggs, Marc & Diane Vettori, and Matt Thompson. These people are great fun and whether you’re winning or losing they’re always smiling and offering places to stay when we travel to the area. 

To read the full story on my race go here.

stork