Echo Red to Red

I consider this my first mountain bike race.  400 mile round trip drive to Echo, Oregon.  21 miles & 2 hours of racing pain.  Some how I had in my head that this race was going to be a little over an hour- not sure exactly how I got that in my head.  From the start to the finish it was a none stop give it all I you got effort.  Up a hill down a hill, up a rocky hill, down a rocky hill.  My descending skills are still not where I want them to be, probably a little timid after taking a few good falls at the end of last year in CX races.  Actaully passed a decent amount of Cat II racers along the way and finished 6th out of 21 in the Cat III Age 35-44 group.