[race]
Words/Images Provided By Danielle Musto
D anielle M u sto leaves the frigid clim ate of M ichigan in Febru ary for the hot Texas desert and the M as o M enos 100K M ore than 500 racers gathered in Terlingu a, Texas over P resid ents w eek end for M as O M enos-the season opener of the U SA C ycling U ltra E nd u rance Series. T he start/finish area had a festival atm osphere,w ith people hanging ou t and cam ping over the entire w eek end . Scott (m y hu sband ) and I d rove 27 hou rs to Terlingu a, Texas w hich is located in the m id d le of the C hihu ahu an d esert.T he d rive w as bru tal bu t being able to rid e ou tsid e in the su n w as w orth every single hou r spent in the car. T his w as ou r first tim e rid ing ou tsid e in m any m onths and I cou ld n’t w ait to rid e m y bik e on d irt. T he race started at 8:30 a.m ., and the prom oter sent u s off in several d ifferent w aves. T he pro m en and w om en racing the 100K w ere sent off first in a neu tral start.I think this w as m y first race w here the start really w as neu tral.T here w as a lot ofstopping and going u ntil w e reached open d ou ble-track and then it w as every racer for his/herself.I tried to get ahead ofas m any people as possible,becau se I k new that w e w ere going to d u m p into tight single-track shortly thereafter. P assing w as som ething that need ed to be d one carefu lly,since cactu s lined m u ch ofthe trail. M u ch of the cou rse w as tight single-track that w ou nd throu gh the open d esert. T here w ere som e steep,sand y clim bs that requ ired a ton ofpow er to get u p,and a few sand /gravel pits that had no clear line.I ran K end a N evegals on both m y front and back w heel and w as happy w ith m y choice as I had no trou ble on the sand y,loose corners.T hey also gave m e tons oftraction on the loose d escents. Continued > XXC SEASON ONE: ISSUE ONE
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