That was the most fun bike race I’ve done in a while. 5th place today in a crazy, muddy, furious @cheqmtb. There was one point through an extra muddy, blown out section of trail where a steep descent lead into a 90° with these crazy moto ruts (left by the thousands of amateurs that raced the course before us). I remember getting to lead through there and just slapping that turn with one foot out and yelling something like “F$CK YES MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING!” I was able to make the lead selection over Firetower Hill with @keegels99 @colepaton and @rj_amos and being out of site with just 30 minutes left to race had me dreaming big. But in conditions like this, anything can happen and probably will. Riley got sideways on a slippery turn, and I overcorrected in case I had to make a dodge. I went down really hard, and Keegan with nowhere to go plowed straight over me. He said he intentionally aimed for my ribs instead of my head which was nice. I feel pretty bad for removing us both from that group, but we ended up making the most of it. It took me a couple miles to shake off the crash and get comfortable on the bike again, but picked back through a couple groups and snuck onto the podium. 4th place points in @lifetimegrandprix has me up to 6th in the standing now, and in a bit more optimistic position heading into the final round next month. With how much has gone wrong this year, definitely didn’t expect to be sitting 2 points off top 5. Big thanks to the on-site medics that got me cleaned up, and HUGE thank you to this northern Midwest mtb community. Absolutely insane how much love there is for the sport up here, and it was so great to connect with so many of y’all. Also, hell yes @bradyn.lange. That was a very popular win. Lastly, enormous thank you to @alliedcycleworks and @_mattwayman for pulling a rabbit out of a hat and getting this weapon up and running again by race day. Leaving this race with a little bit of “what could have been”, but when juxtaposed to the feeling of total defeat sitting at baggage claim upon arrival, this weekend went darn well. One to go...