Judging by the photos and videos I’ve seen from face-friends, I missed a good time at the SM100 race.

This makes me a little sad- Shenandoah has always been a great race with an even better post-race party. Even though the race lost its  “final of the NUE series” billing, this year was no different. However, I’ve been in a slump since Breck. My legs felt fine within a few days of being home, but mentally, I’ve had little more motivation than to sit around and stare at the walls. I couldn’t bring myself to pack the car and get to the race. Maybe if I could have teleported myself and all my equipment there on race morning? It’s possible… there’s still that whole “Ride 100 miles” thing to get through, too.

This weekend, Ryan and I are going to Fool’s Gold. He’s gonna race 50, and I’m going for 100. I’m almost looking forward to it- the singletrack on course is a lot of fun ever since the trails were re-worked following the storm/mud debacle two years ago. Right now, there’s a 50% chance of rain on Saturday. My plan is to ride the geared bike, but the singlespeed is coming along as backup.

My bad start to the season, results-wise, kinda screwed me up for NUE series points. I’m going into this race with a similar feeling that I had before the super-awesome Wheeler/Stage 5 of Breck Epic- mentally vacant, physically unsure, and with absolutely nothing to lose.