This year the gravel on the road was looser than I had seen in the past, which made it even more of a challenge. The start was not as fast as the prior years, which was a nice change. I started near the front of the group and kept a pretty good pace.
The first section is tolerable until you start heading under the chairlift then it starts to get steeper and the suffering begins. About 10 minutes into it I looked back on one of the switchbacks and could see a few riders relatively close. I picked up the pace a little as I was leading for women and wanted to hold it. I just put my head down and kept the wheels turning reminding myself that the pain would be over soon. I passed a few guys then held my position, which I thought was around 5th overall. I could see the next two riders ahead of me the rest of the way. There is a short downhill section before the climb to the finish. I tried to ride that as fast as I could and headed up to the finish line. I was happy to beat my previous time, win for women and place 5th overall.
