18 Hours - Scouts Honor

It is now 2:37 a.m. and riders are still on the course...having fun, but working hard.
I finished my lap at about 11:30 and I can say the conditions this year are probably the worst I've seen in at least 4 years. The course is damp...not so much wet but the dampness makes the roots - which are many and diverse in size and direction - very inconsistent in approach. I went out for as hard a ride as I could get as I knew I could probably get only one lap in but it quickly grabbed my attention when a root I didn't see essentially threw me to the ground then laughed out loud!
I couldn't help but think I'm doing ONE lap, and these racers were trying to get in as many as they could. These riders have my greatest respect with these conditions. This trail is one of the most fun trails I've ridden, but like all good ... the dark side is ever present.

Below is the link to the 10:00 p.m. time update (we missed the 1:00 a.m. update since I was out on the course):
18hoursMS.pdf