1st. 2nd. Stages

Sorry for the late post the wifi at camp doesn't let my iPad log in. Got help and even them couldn't figure it out. Had to drive into State College and find a wifi place. Yesterday went well, it rained the night before but the stage didn't start until 3pm so it was plenty of time for the course to dry up. I started at 3:17:30 and within the first 3 miles I had caught the master that started before me. I relished I was going out to hard and let up a bit and let him go on a climb. Caught on the roots rocky single track and pulled away from him. Finished 3rd on the stage. Today's stage was brutal, it rained hard again last night and the start was at 9:30 am. Lots of gravel road climbs wich I like but I had no legs on the first half of the race ans also plenty of mud to go around. Before we hit the first check point at 11 miles, there was the hike a bike from hell, about 2 miles long and it just kept going up. Made it to the first check point and I wanted to curl into a ball, call my mommy and go home, but you go through rough patches during a race this long. I kept telling myself, this is it I'm not racing ever again. Normally I like the long sustained climbs but with no legs it was a love hate relationship. I was riding the hard single track better than ever picking lines over rocks that had no line at all, bouncing all over the place and loving it. Found my legs later in the race and was able to go a little harder on the climbs and pulled away from afew riders. It was 90 and so humid I even unzipped my jersey which I don't like to do, it looks unprofessional, yeah I'm real anal when it comes to that. Overall great day and I was able to finish strong. I haven't looked at the results but it looks like I finished 4th on the day I'll find out at the dinner tonight. Tomorrow is another hard day but "only" 32 miles. Im riding the hard eddy and I tell you, I had my doubts about the bike but it has been great, as stif as the bike is, it is also very forgiving. I'm glad I chose to ride it. That's all for today, I'll try to post again tomorrow as I have more time since the stage is shorter. Thanks for reading.