RACE #3

Ah Flagstaff, what a great place to race. Race #7 of the Arizona Series (http://www.mbaa.net/), the Flagstaff Frenzy occured May 16th. The race went great for me, but I still only came in 7th. I would have liked to do better, but that is how it goes.

Check out the cool rorshach test I ended up with on my chest due to all mysweating during the race:

So back to the race. I had the best start of the year so far. I was on the front row, and this made a much bigger difference then I thought. I usually start in the back row and end up on the back of the back by two minutes in. Guess what, when you start in the front, you can be in 2nd or 3rd spot two minutes in. Interesting how that works. I will need to be up front from now on. It was a climb intensive course, and that usually works well for me. I was in 5th spot at the top of the major climb at the end of the first of two laps.

Let me just say that the Marathon Carbon is a comblete monster on the downhills. I am just amazed at how good it is. It has taken my descending to a new level. That said, you still need to properly tighten your stem for it not to come loose on a descent. I hit a big rock and the stem went sideways on me. Not as bad as it could have been, but a bit distracting, and it caused me to loose a few spots that I was able to recapture on the long climb on the second lap, but it would have been nice to have not lost those spots. Mental note, make sure all the bolts are tight before the next race. So besides the stem that has nothing to do with the frame, the GT Marathon Carbon is completely awesome.

Well there is another race up in Flag in a few weeks and I hope to do better at it. I know the bike won't let me down, hopefully I will have my climbing legs on. Thanks for reading!