The course was surely off the beaten path: calling French Meadows a remote location is rather understated. But it was as pretty as it was isolated. I ended up being quite happy with my race: I finished without getting all too hurt, a bit faster than I expected, not troubled too much by the heat, my back took a break in acting up and the whole event was a bunch of fun. My full writeup is here on MTBGuru, results are here, and there is a Cycling News report as well.

And I’ve also officially drunk the 29er kool-aid now: the new bike felt like a high speed freight train on the flats and descents and had excellent traction in the corners. Being a hardtail it climbs and accelerates like a mountain goat, the only drawback is of course the bone rattling nature of fast techy descents on it…