Day 3 Kamloops-Race The Ranch

So today was race day. Since we are staying so close to the course and we didn't start until 11:30 we had a good night sleep and a relaxing morning. Arrived at the course, sun was blazing, got ready, warmed up and away we went.
The start was an uphill double track for a bit then it narrowed for the final climb to the table top. On the top there was no shade so no escape from the heat. At the start I picked the wrong guy to line up behind and had to do a little zig zaging to get into the top 4. Once we we on the top the group thinned out, Steve was in third and I was in fourth. The rest of the lap continued this way but on the second lap we both moved up a spot. The Guy in first was ahead by about a minute thirty.

We were both riding well and I did not want to over do it in the heat( it was about 32 )so I keep a steady pace. Laps 3 and 4 were the same but each one felt a bit better as I got used to the course a bit more, the sand was like flour in some spots and the downhill parts had become really rutted.

On the last lap about 3/4 of the way through I saw a guy off the trail looking in rough shape. He had paramedics tending to him and as I got closer I realized that it was the guy who had been leading the whole race. Now we were one and two. Once I rolled across the finish line I headed for the tent and proceeded to dump 2 bottles of water on my noodle, which at this point was al dente.

I have to give a huge thanks to Tracy and Pepper who gave us bottles twice a lap and kept us cool. I will never forget the words "Do you want a dump?"

All in all a good day. Tomorrow we head to Rossalnd, with a few lake stops on the way.