I picked up my race packet along with my race number. I was happily surprised to be given the number one spot! This, of course, says nothing of my current standing as a racer or starting position. Tomorrow is a mass shotgun start. I'll take it as a good omen. Today I rode with two legends of the race series, Dave Wiens and Rebecca Rush, and checked out the start and finish of the course while they answered our many questions about nutrition, race tactics and gear.
I caught up with Dave early on before the larger group joined. He was spinning along the road where we got to talking about Tahoe, the race series, and what I did. It was really cool to have a one on one conversation with the six-time champion of the Leadville Trail 1oo. He was super nice and humble. We rode to the top where he could check out the finish line.
Dave and I rode back down to meet up Rebecca and the rest of the group. She was also super cool and nice. Not often do I get to meet and hang out with people I have mad respect for. It was a real special day for me.
Dave and Rebecca led out a pretty big group of about 30 or so riders, all doing the full 100k. It was a fast bunch and I quickly realized how much dust was going to be kicked up throughout the race.
Here's my race rig for tomorrow. Not much has changed since the last race, other than an extra bottle cage on the seat post. I'm definitely going to need the extra bottle for tomorrow. I'm also glad I made the jump to the Fast Trak tires. The course was really fast and loose, typical of Northern California. There's lots of gravel and dusty loamy sections where the extra bite will help out.
My game plan is to be conservative on the downhills and push slightly on the uphills. The course doesn't have too many steep climbs, but it's deceivingly tough due to the altitude and length.
Tonight I've got to get some serious rest before our 7am start time. I'll be up around 5am getting things going. Wish me luck!