Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1456806
16 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Sumter NEPG Round One! Sumter NEPG Round One! Story By Rachel Gutish Story By Rachel Gutish Photos By Shan Moore Photos By Shan Moore I can see my breath. Isn't South Carolina supposed to be warm? Besides my breath, I can also see a half-put-together EZ-UP that I'm fran cally trying to fix. My row leaves in 15 minutes, so it seems a li le pointless to be doing this right now, but there are sponsors to appease and the photographer will be here any minute. At least I hope so, because like I said, my row leaves in 15 minutes. I really need these photos so that my tle sponsor and I (Bonanza Plumbing) can make a team announce- ment soon. My graphics didn't arrive un l the day before the race, and if I try and wait un l the race is over, there's a good chance I'll have already worn a hole right through the shroud graphics (if I'm riding well) or managed to rip off a piece of plas c en rely (if I'm riding poorly). Fortunately, we finish the photo shoot with about five minutes to spare. I have just enough me to make my start, shoving through confused people wondering why the pro rider was almost late to her own start. Besides being well-organized and punctual (two things I'm clearly not, judging from the previous story), having good reac on me is cri cal for the NEPG rider. Oh, not for dodging trees out on the trail; I'm talking about when you're s ll si ng at home, with your trigger finger hovering over the mouse, ge ng ready to sign-up. With 900 available spots and at least 140 rows (the highest number I remember seeing) at Sumter this year, your typing speed and the quickness of your trigger finger has the poten al to make a huge difference in your results and overall enjoy- ment of the event. An interes ng thing about the NEPG series is that the co-sanc oning local club and their members lay out the bulk of the trail, not the NEPG series itself — which makes sense. As anyone who has cut even a small amount of trail can tell you, 70 or 80 miles of trail is no joke. The NEPG staff would basically have to live at the property for weeks beforehand. I bring this up for two reasons.