Not A Bad Weekend.

Saturday a large (200?) group of riders gathered in the small town of Elgin, MN for the Dickie Scramble (83 mile gravel race).  The weather started off sunny with a slight breeze, that would later turn into cloudy skies and a much stronger wind.  After the neutral roll out the pace picked up and the jockeying of position started. 
The front group was large and everyone seemed to feel they could win the race...a bit chaotic.  I kind of tuned out a bit and drifted back to the mid 20's-30's.  We took a right onto some pavement with a quick left onto gravel and I saw Ted hit the hammer.  By the time I got around some riders and put in a hard effort it was too late, I was stuck in no mans land.  I chased about a half hour making some ground up to only lose it.  I had a chase group behind me, whom I finally sat up and waited for.

This chase group was a bit chaotic at first but we found our groove and started to work together...for the most part.  As the effort got harder and the wind stiffer the group started to splinter some.  Around 28 miles we jump on a path of sorts and descend a gnarly downhill.  At the bottom of the hill there were 4 people with pinch flats!  As we climbed out of the valley on the opposite side our group was down to 5-6.  We'd stay that way through the first checkpoint (48 miles).  While there were not any super steep climbs there were a lot of climbs, many being long.  The climbs and the viscous headwinds allowed us to catch up to a group of three that fell off the lead group.  We eventually dropped down to 3 riders strong...Parker, BK, and myself.  We battled the crosswinds as best we could.  We finished 6,7, and 8.  I took 7th.  I'm happy with the performance.  Of course I wonder what could have been had I made the break but I had a fun day on the bike, and in the end, that's what matters.

Sunday was on and off again rain.  Noah and I were able to get a rain free 2 hours in.  The bike is covered in worms and the wind made recovery a bit of a challenge.
Once home the kids and I went out for lunch then battled the chaos that is Crafts Direct.  Ended the day with a sauna at the Anderson's.
Yep...not a bad weekend!