Got it done in Charlotte

Loaded up the van on Fri. and Nathan and I headed up to Charlotte for the Tree Shaker 12 hr race. Got to the racecourse @ 4:00 ish and met up with a local that wanted to show off his course. Dude was all kind of fired up so we followed him. Got in a couple of laps and felt alright. My legs were still a little sore from Thus. morning's hard ride but I figured (hoped )they would come around. Anyways, split there, picked up registration, ate, and headed to Arleigh's for the night. One thing that was apparent after pre-riding was that it would be a hard race. The course was bumpy, tight, and either straight up or straight down. It would be really hard to get a good rythm going.
Race Day
Great- 40 degrees out at the start. Ran my but off in the run, 2nd into the woods. Passed the leader on the 1st downhill and opened a good gap. Behind me was a small group with Nathan, Z, and another sketchy guy. Z came across to me and we rolled off. Never saw anybody again. Nathan was riding strong as well, securely in 2nd spot and pullin away. I had a few so-so laps before finally getting into a good rythm and putting down 4-5 solid laps to distance myself. After 14 laps, I was wondering how much time I had so I rolled into the start and was told I was 2 laps up on 2nd. There was only 20 mins. till cuttoff and I had been riding for 11 hrs. Consequently, I didn't feel like riding anymore than I had to (and since it was impossible to be caught ) I called it a day. Nathan's fork unfortunately blew up 11 laps in and he had to bag it. That's too bad- we were running away with the race and it would have been cool to be 1 - 2.
Anyways, packed up , split, and tried to get a shower and sleep. Later- DH