Kelso Pre-Race

Going into Kelso, im definitely a little bit nervous. Its been awhile since ive thrown down 2hours of high intensity. However, on the flipside, I am in the best shape that I've ever been.

In the last month, Ive dropped 7lbs, done a ton of tempo work, and overall feel as if my sub threshold power has increased quite a bit. However when push comes to shove, I still don't think I have the top end power to make a serious impression on the Elite field.

My goal is to settle in with a few pace guys, start 'slow' and then then see how i feel when lap 3 and 4 roll around.

Im pretty sure that Ill be running my furious freds for this course, as they roll extremely fast on the hardpacked clay that makes up the bulk of Kelso. My only concern is punctures, as the casing is quite thin.

Drafting may play a big factor in the singletrack, as the speeds will likely be 25-30 on some of the faster sections. With top end power being the weakness, sitting in someones draft on an attack could make or break the race for me.

A good race would put me within 13% of the winners time. A bad race would be..well lets not hope for that.