Maplelag Spring Opener

Jay Richards and family do a fantastic job pulling off a race. Where else can you race (for $10, mind you), have a lunch included and pay out three deep? Nowhere around these parts. Furthermore, the course was voted the best in the Minnesota Series last year.

Sara, Kiera and I showed up Friday and Sara was able to get in part of a loop. She snapped her seat binder bolt and thankfully I always carry a spare since this has happened before and put us in a spot of bother. We ended up running out of time since we had to meet Doug, Anne and Stella for some cabin time. Anne and her mother Mary had an amazing dinner waiting so once we were able to wrestle the girls to the table, we dug in. The girls played hard and we finally got them to bed around 9:30. Late for Stella but Kiera's normal bedtime in the summer.

Saturday morning was cloudy and cool, just the way I like it. Sara, Doug and I arrived about 45 minutes before start time and got in a brief warm up on the tacky trails. Perfect conditions. 2.2 XR 1s on the Superfly for me and the same set up for Sara on the Top Fuel. Doug punched it from the start and I was able to hang for a bit. I know he was trying to shed me early since he continually glanced back... He did and after a while Jake caught me, rode behind for awhile and then took over. He briefly got a gap and then we both had our issues with bike problems and ended up riding together for the almost the entire race. I sucked off his wheel down the ski trail and jumped by for second on the day about 30 seconds behind Doug who had some trail navigation issues
(now I know why he always races with the Garmin even though it didn't help him this time :) Jake ended up third, Kevin Ishaug forth and Jay Richards rounded out the podium. It sure is great to see Jay beating Lyme's Disease and riding fast again.

Sara rode a steady pace, enjoyed the technical practice and chalked up another win. Maplelag is always a tough course for her but she enjoys the challenge. Her concussion symptoms continue to slowly improve and she is seeing less "floaties" and has fewer tough days. A familar competitor, Kyia Anderson also made an appearance, pulling off second place(it was nice to see Kyia's husband Kris and 8 month old baby Aunders since we haven't seen them since last September).

After the race we rode a good chunk of another lap before heading back for lunch and awards. Next up was the drive back to the cabin to relieve Anne and Mary and jump into the lake. Stella and Kiera played hard all day and a good part of the night. Kiera ASKED to go to bed (this has happed once or twice in her 3 and 1/2 years) so Stella did a great job wearing her out. A big THANKS to the Swansons for a great weekend.

Up next: Mankato.