Pre rode the race course for the Canyons yesterday - scary hard first (half) lap that will probably decide the order of the riders in my category for the rest of the race. The second (full) lap has some tough switch backs but otherwise was super fun single track through through a bunch of different vegetation types depending on which face of the mountain I was on. Aspen groves gave way to big pines which gave way to scrub oak and finally some seriously tall grasses ( like four to five feet!) that felt like I was riding in a tunnel.

Tonight i did a local climb and favorite decent in Corner Canyon. Rode hard on the uphill trying a new route which turned out to be STEEP, had to hike a bike a bit, but felt strong at the top and worked at jumping out of the saddle to crest some short, steep rollers while maintaining a bit larger gear.
The real fun was that I rode the Ghost Falls decent as well as I ever have! swooped through the switchbacks while keeping some momentum, navigated the rock gardens with aplomb (more or less) and even managed to clear the sand trap at the bottom. It is not often that I feel like I am skiing on the bike but tonight was pretty close.

Probably ride the Canyons course again tomorrow night after work just to figure out how I want to handle that initial half lap - and because the second lap is pretty darn fun!