I had watched Trackleaders, yesterday afternoon, as both Beth Shaner and Dean Anderson rode into Payson and was a bit bummed that they would be passing me and hence, bumping me back two more places in the race. It was my choice though to stop riding so early in the day (about 2:30pm) to get a room so as to have some recovery time - so I wasn't too hard on myself.
When my alarm went off I dozed for a while, not wanting to get out of the warm, soft bed. This is why motels are dangerous for racers. They suck time away too easily. Anyway, I finally got out of bed, had some breakfast and was out the motel door at about 5:20am. I saw this morning, on trackleaders, that Dean and Beth had actually both stayed in motels in Payson as well so I had some chance of bumping into them again. Company was getting thin on the ground as of the 34 or so 750 mile racers, about half had scratched from the race and 10 or so were well in front of me (or finished already!).
Riding out of Payson was pleasant, if cold. The route went through some suburban back streets before finding the dirt again. The dirt was good back road, if a little twisty and turny, but it made for good riding as the first rays of daylight began to light the way for me.
Just leaving Payson. The trail was fast and fun.
