Goin' Down to Shreveport

Sing the title in your best Waylon Jennings voice. I headed down to Shreveport with a couple of friends, Max and Mike, for the Dust Buster mountain Bike race at the Monkey Trail. River City Cycling and Fitness put on the race and did a fantastic job.
We took off from Fayetteville early Saturday morning with a pit stop in Van Buren to pick up Mike. About five hours later we arrived in Shreveport and the mid 80 degree temps seemed suffocating in pants and fleeces. However, I was stoked to ride in shorts and sleeves and to show my friends this absolutley awesome trail. It didn't disapoint. They both loved the trail, it was fast! The race loop was 8 miles, they cut the last two really technical miles out. At first I was mad they had shortened the loop, race day I would be thankful. After two laps, we headed over to my parents house for some awesome eats and some well deserved rest. Mom killed the dinner, sauteed veggies, Steak Tornadoes, squash casserole, cranberry salad, rice with spinach and capers, grainy wheat bread and more, I am sure I left something out. Bottom line it was great, thanks Mom.
Race Day:
It is both a blessing and a curse to have a race start at 2p. We had a very chill morning, talking bikes, telling race stories and drinking plenty of coffee. We made it to the race site by 1145, plenty of time, no rushing around trying to get ready. This year I have to decided to do more focused warm-ups. Previous years I just got out there and moved around for 15-30 minutes, I always felt like crap the first thirty minutes of a race. For this race, I warmed up for a solid 45 minutes with a few race pace, short climbs that really taxed the legs. The result, I had one of my best starts. By best start I mean I was able to hang within sight of the leaders without feeling like I wanted to puke. My class(sport) had two waves, I was in the first. The race starts, vigorous pace, and I enter the singletrack 11 visible riders ahead of me. In the next 3 miles I manage to pass eight racers due to them not being able to handle the technical sections. They were very gracious to move out of the way when they dabbed a section. For the next five miles I hung on to a wheel of a fellow racer only to pass him at the start finish line. I felt good for most of the second lap, only passed twice, once by the eventual winner, only to fade in the last three miles. Both my legs and my upper body became fatigued, also a nagging pain in my lower back. I was out sprinted at the line, actually I didn't even respond, just watched him ride past me to the finish line. I finished 7th and only two minutes off of 2nd. I was pleased. I didn't have high expectations for this race, I just wanted to get in an effort, mission accomplished.

Edit- results are posted here