Saturday was our 4th race of the year and a new venue for the Root 66 schedule.  Almost all the way to Cape  Cod in the really nice rooty Massosoit State park.  You couldn't of asked for a better day with temps in the 70's and blue skies.  I lined up with about half of the normal field.  I think there was about 15 pros all together including Mark McCormick.  I used to race against him 15 years ago when he was a regular on the cover of Velonews but he has since slowed down quit a bit.  I'm sure he would still rock my world on a road bike but I think he has become a casual mtb racer doing it for the fun of it.  So once the gun went off we were racing down the access road for a bit and then into some seriously bumpy single/double track.  Matt O'keefe and I broke away from the group for about a half a lap and then my chain came off.  About 10 sec later 6 guys came by and I was frantically trying to get my chain on.  Unfortunately before the race I noticed that my chain guide was all bent to hell from the animals at the SFO airport the week prior.  I guess thats what I get when I forget to check my bike over before the race.  My brother and I tweaked it right before the start but obviously not enough.  Well anyway I got it on and caught back up to the leaders, Seamuss, Hines and O'Keefe then my chain came off again.  This scenario happened a few more times and I finished 5th on the day, 2minutes down from first.  I rode so hard trying to catch up I barely drank any water or ate anything.  This race was a serious time trial.  I had alot of fun playing catch up.  
    Also racing was my brother and Aleksandra in the expert class. It cracks me up that she and my brother race against each other, but the fact that we take separate cars makes the ride home much safer.  Matt ripped his side wall on the first lap, fixed it and then flatted again.  Aleks finished 1st pro women and 2nd in expert with an amazing sprint finish against a  guy that probably didn't know he was racing a girl.   Overall we had a great time and want to thank Colt from Cyclingdirt for his coverage of the race.  If you want to check out  Aleksandra's interview here it is.


Mike