Street Swell Snow MTB race at Tennessee pass

Saturday, January 5th, was the Tennessee Pass Street Swell bike race at Ski Cooper. The race is apart of the pedal power race series in the Leadville area which is mostly snowshoe races.
It was a bit cold when i arrived in the lot that morning, about 5 degree, but the sun was out so it felt warmer...but not much. The cross country ski track we would be on looked solid, good hard snow, nicely groomed. It was probably the best conditions you could get for a bike race on snow.
I was rocking my XC bike, dropped the tire pressure to 15psi. I figured I could hold my own even though most were on fat tire bikes.
The 11 mile track had a pretty good elevation profile with some downhill to start then some climbing after a mile or so then some more nice downhill leading to a fast flat section. Regardless, there is no oxygen at 11,000 feet so the whole thing hurt. The turns were a bit soft and lots of people went down there but i stayed afloat for the whole thing, barely.

Finished 8th in my AG (30-39) and 13th overall out of 35 people. Next up, Copper mountain snow bike race Jan 19th, night race!