This race was extremely dusty and on the first lap you could barley see your hand in front of your face let alone the trail ahead of you. The two favorite features of the course were the "half pipe" a fun sweeping bermed section that dived in and out of an old road bed, and a steep rooty downhill section that went into a drainage and proved challenging to get up and out of on the other side.
Unfortunately for me my race was plagued by two flat tires and proved to be a game of catch-up for the rest of the race. After a bad start where I was left at the back of the entire expert field I finally worked my way up to a racer in my category, my thought that I might have a shot at doing well were soon smashed as the rear end of my bike began to weave around and I knew I had a flat. I fixed it but not before the entire sport category had passed me. After this I put in a hard effort and managed to catch the end of the expert train, after passing dozens of sport racers. I soon caught a glimpse of my competition and felt a wave of hope for my race but unfortunately, I again heard the soul crushing hiss of my rear tire punctured again. I had no more tubes and I had no idea what to do, running with my bike to the top of the root section, I rode down with a completely flat tire where a friend who was posted as a course marshal was able to lend me a 26 inch tube, I forced it around my 29er rim, got my tire on, and was able to rip another lap and finished the day fifth in junior expert.
There is still one more chance to get in on the fun of the Nevada City Dirt Classic on July 12th on the Hallelujah and Upper Pioneer trails 15 miles above Nevada City. Go here for more info:http://ybonc.org/events/dirt-classic/
Photos courtesy of Robert Lowe and Jared Mickel
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