Decisions Made in Haste

There were a lot of possibilities on this day. We chose this one. The underlying idea behind it was probably the 3rd fastest route out there. Mullinax off Squirrel may have been a better choice. When CP 4 came around, we were losing ground on the teams ahead of us and went for a gamble, opting not to ride Laurel Mtn, but instead to hike up Pilot Mountain. We think it saved us a little time, but ultimately no positions.

The 5 checkpoint route (on 225 behind Looking Glass) seemed like a dummy bet, but actually paid off for most people that made efficient route choice to get there. Ultimately earning the win. The best 4 checkpoint route was probably to do the CPs as such; Bradley, Squirrel/Cantrell, Laurel Connector/Laurel, 5000. Although 1206 seems like a beast in the middle of the day, and I think some teams had luck with opting for the same route, but going after the 225 CP rather than 5000.

That's the extent of obsessive compulsion for today. It made sleep pretty tough. Any guy who keeps a bound journal of all his Pisgah Rides, annotated with segment times, must be allowed a little lattitude in matters of route choice. But when you pull a map out at Pressley Cove and plan the next 9 hours in 3 minutes, things happen. We raced the hell out of our plan, and I've put the demons to rest.