Stage 2

Stage 2 didn't start until 10:00, so I was able to have a pretty mellow morning getting ready and shoveling as much breakfast as I could down the gullet since I knew we were going to be in for the longest day of the race. We had to retrace our steps to the finish of the first stage to start the second, and that made for a nice little warm up ride. I got into a good starting position, and I was feeling pretty good right out of the gate. I did have a nice high speed crash within the first half hour or so when my rear tire slid out on a slippery descent. Fortunately, the bike was fine and I only ended up with a little trail rash and bruising where I landed on my right hip. This was definitely the mother fu**er of all the stages with just over 45 uninterrupted kiolometers of the ATV/bog thing to start the day off right. After that, we got a brief respite on some Hydro Cut trails (what we call power lines). Aid Station 2 was at the bottom of a big climb, and after that it was was about 10 more kilometers of the ATV/bog thing. The stage finished on a loose, sandy gravel rail trail of 18 km. It took me 6 hours and 40 minutes; and when I pulled into the finish, I was very, very far from a happy camper. Fortunately, the camp for night two was fantastic, and that soon put everyone in a better mood. The cabins and showers were awesome, and the food was off the charts for both dinner and breakfast. All of that, coupled with the fact that we were over the halfway point had everyone in a better mood when it came time to start stage 3 on Sunday morning.

I stole this picture from someone on the internet, but it gives you some idea of what I'm talking about with the bog ordeal.