Wow, what a feeling, it has been such a long time!!!! Finally, I finished an elite race and in sixth place!! So stoked. It was a brutal course, rumored to be the steepest climb in the JCF race series. Elite had to do 4 laps at 5.5km per lap, I was hoping for only three but no luck. I have been training hard despite drinking a few beers at Sarah's sayonara party two nights previous, so I set my goal to finish the four laps without being timed out!! To my surprise, I did just that!! Yeaaaaaah, great sense of accomplishment, pretty proud of myself. Enough about me. Kouji, Mark and Ya-Chan all rode at the same time. Since expert men and elite woman start at a 5 minute difference. Koji did his best for not having trained very much recently, and Mark came in Second!!! Congratulations MARK!!! Ya-Chan was still suffering from a cold so she couldn't do her best, wishing her a speedy recovery!! Look out Japan's elite XC riders, here I come again!!!!!! See more pictures here!!