2012 Pine Nut Cracker

Gardnerville, NV
Saturday May 19, 2012
by: Don Simone

Week 2 of a 4 week kickoff series for the 2012 Sierra Cup Mountain Bike Series. Alta Alpina layed out a typical fast course through the Pine Nut Mountains south of Reno, NV. Perfect weather greeted the start and we headed out on the multi loop course. Legs were feeling punchy and found myself near the top in our group, and settled in to see what was up. The lead rider checked out, and the rest of our group sort of looked at each other and were ok with it, he was ripping and not much we could do about it. Scoping out a couple technical sections, I knew where I could make a move on my final lap. Like a rookie, though, I had an opening sooner than expected and took it, and took off - but too soon. Going into the final descent into the finish, I was 2 tics off the podium - should of stuck to plan! Lesson learned.