Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546340
September 2026 side that screams in self-preserva on. I'm a desert lizard that thrives in loose, dry BS! Ironically, we ended up on the surface of the moon and in silt beds on the transfer to Test 3. The terrain varia on here is crazy! Test 3 really switched up the brain chemistry! It was four and a half miles of fast rock climbing. The higher we got, the rockier and looser it got. My Rieju 300 EATS loose rocks with zero effort, and I loved this test, but it taxed both rider and machine. Fan blas ng by the top of the ascent and rider suck- ing air, but a blast! Next was the INSANE transfer sec on up to Test 4. We were way above the tree line going up a never-ending ascent full of massive rocks. Probably the trickiest part of the day, but the view up top was spectacular and well worth it. Test 4 was longer, pre y quick, and all downhill. It was also a bit wet, and I again struggled mentally to find speed despite my apprehension. I caught up to my favorite Rieju rider, Jen Swisher, on the transfer to Test 5. She's a smart cookie. It suddenly started raining and got super cold. She packed a rain jacket. I checked the weather and had opted not to. I should've known! I started Test 5 in the rain, and the trail was basically a small and very slick stream. Great, just great, my favorite...not! Despite this, I s ll made some great passes and then BOOM, dry silt and no rain. Time to rip! I tried to make up for my slow start in the test, knowing my compe on probably got to race the whole thing in the dry. Regardless, I seriously had a fun me in 5 and was vibing. This was the end of med racing, but we s ll had a 19-mile transfer back to town. I finished P5 for the day but would redeem myself Sunday with P3 behind an ISDE legend, so not too shabby, eh? A er a great Saturday evening of post-race bench-racing and good eats, we were at it again at 0800 Sunday. Saturday I'd logged over 100 trail miles and 18,000 feet of eleva on changes (which my SmartCarb-equipped Rieju just ate up!), and Sunday would add another 82 miles with a maximum eleva- on of 12,900 feet. So freaking cool (did I men on I'm a desert lizard), and the views and terrain above the tree line blow my mind. Despite fewer miles on Sunday, the RMEC crew s ll found a way to crucify us with trails we were tested on. Can you say "Perryp- alooza Loop"?