Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546340
10 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Test 1 was pre y fast and got progressively rockier. Dare I say a different kind of rocky from the day before? Embedded creek-bed type rock with just a hint of slippery mud, unlike the loose stuff of Satur- day that seemed easier to stay on top of. I definitely had to check up in the embedded rock! I had to do some passing and got gassed by the checkout. Then came the world's longest transfer with a ton of eleva on gain and some incredible views. We traversed down a really unique rock slab hillside. I'm convinced every rock there was hand-stacked. You'd have to see it to believe it. I arrived at Test 2, and vibes were high, but this test was awkward for me. It was loose, mostly uphill, and a ton of turns, but thankfully there were only rocks in the hills, turns, and straightaways. I didn't feel fast standing and somehow also became a hot mess si ng. My en re class was all within seconds of each other on this one, so I'm not the only one who was on the struggle bus. Test 3 was looong... as in 10.4 miles looong. It had a bit of everything, but mostly fast downhills and straights. There were a few random sketchy sec ons that I was happy to clean. They weren't super technical, but a mistake there would have been very costly me-wise, and I knew I already suffer in the fast stuff, so I was happy to ride through problem-free. Despite that, it was my slowest test of the day. The transfer to Test 4 was actually trail I recognized from my last Shady in 2022. It had been a giant mud fest that year, but I could see all the effort that went into restoring it with a large amount of rock and gravel filling in the holes. Great work by the Forest Service OHV crews! The transfer to 4 had an A/B split, which basically told me one thing... more suffering was coming. Test 4 sucked! I was a fish out of water and truly struggled for the first me all weekend. More embedded jag- ged rocks...huge rocks...covered in mud...humans and bikes hogging all the good lines...and someone's hel- met in the middle of the mess? I don't ask ques ons when I'm figh ng for my life! I dropped my bike a few mes, and it was dang hard to get up and unstuck 'cause I always seemed to fall downhill amidst slip- pery roots and slop. I was so thankful at that moment for every li I've done in the gym the past year! De- spite all that, I was s ll P3 behind Bri any, although I didn't know it at the me. I was so frustrated with my performance and struggle that I really just wanted to get the day over with- a temper tantrum, if you will- so I rushed into Test 5 and just went for it.