Fool’s Gold 100 NUE Finals

After Shenandoah I met up with Kelly Klett and traveled to their home in North Carolina. They were super hosts and took good care of me all week. We even ventured out to ride some of their local goodness and had a great BBQ dinner Thursday night in downtown Raleigh. We headed south Friday for Dahlonega Georgia for the NUE Series finals.Fool’s Gold 100 ended up being another rough one for me. Despite being lazy all week and trying to rest I found myself missing my usual strength as we rode the initial climb. I took the lead on the first long descent, but mistook the corner marshal for a photographer as my glasses had been sprayed pretty badly. Instead of leading into the single track I ended up with a handicap about ten spots back. Unfortunately, I never saw the front of the race again as I lost time following the slow folks and then lacked the extra power needed to close.
I caught Drew Edsall after a bit and passed him only to fall heavily when I clipped a six log that was poking out into the trail under some bushes. Luckily it didn’t tear my leg off and I wasn’t out of the race but my ribs were really jacked up and likely fractured. It took some time to get going again and finally I re-passed Edsall about an hour later. Then I rejoined a demoralized Christian Tanguy after he stopped at aid six. Christian was clearly better than I on the climbs, but seemed uninterested in chasing. I took the initiative anytime the trail flattened or went downhill, but he was able to rejoin me each time I slowed to pass 50 mile riders or when the trail kicked uphill.
As we went through aid station seven we were told that Sam Koerber was not far ahead. I told Chris that he looked good and it was money in the bank if he could put both of us away which he did as we caught Sam on the road back to the venue.I was flagging by that point and could only watch as they rode away.
I finished fifth and just managed to retain third in the NUE series despite only participating in the minimum four races. That result equalled my 2008 result with a much stronger NUE field nowadays. After getting my first career NUE win at Pierre’s Hole this year. and finishing on the podium I am excited to have done so well in the NUE Series again. Now I can only hope my injuries from my random run-in with the rogue blow-down aren’t too debilitating to preclude a good finish at Marathon National Championships this coming weekend!