To Go Balls Out Or Not To Go Balls Out: That Is The Question

And on this particular occasion, the answer was: only go balls out to the extent that you get enough points to win the series overall.
First, we'll get the suspense out of the way with the race results:
4th place in Moab, 1st place overall!

I did not get the memo about wearing shorts.

The Moab stop in the Big Mountain Enduro series was supposed to take place on Saturday, August 23rd.  Ever since the race venues were announced in early January, participants were freaking out over the chosen date.  You see, Moab is in the desert, and daytime temperatures usually stay in the upper 90s and lower 100s well into September--not ideal riding conditions, especially for a race with a stage that's 17 miles long.

(The red line is 17.2 miles.  Ouch.)

Last year BME had the Moab final in late September, and it snowed heavily up in the mountains (at the start line) the night before the race, making it a nasty, dangerous sledding situation for the first stage, as well as tearing up the trail and making the Forest Service very grumpy.  So this year, to avoid another mudfest, they held it a month earlier, but that in turn would put people at risk for heat exhaustion.  There's just no easy way to race in Moab, and rumor has it that the venue will be dropped for next year.
So, despite Moab's typical weather forecast, the area experienced a whole mess of rain the day before the race was to be held, so the organizers pushed the start time back from 5:45am to 7:45 am for the pros and 10:00am for the amateurs.  This was perfectly fine for me because I can't eat breakfast early in the morning without feeling nauseous, so it would give me a chance to fill up properly before riding.  On Saturday we awoke to light rain, then heavier rain, then intermittent downpours followed by short periods of blue sky and then more rain.  At 8:00am the organizers canceled the race for the day and established a tentative start time of 7:45am on Sunday.  This ruffled lots of feathers, as some racers only budgeted enough time for Saturday and had to return from whence they came, and they received no refunds or adjustments; unfortunately that's the name of the game sometimes.  Those of us that stayed found ourselves suddenly with a lot of time on our hands and nothing particularly exciting to do; rain is perfectly pleasant when you're at home and can curl up under the covers with a book, but when personal space isn't available stir-craziness quickly sets in.  My crew convened at Wake and Bake, a coffee shop on the main drag with free wi-fi, and watched a replay of the Downhill World Championship race going on in Meribel, France:

Nothing was actually happening on the screen at the time, we just wanted to make the picture more dramatic.
Finally, the rain let up, and we loaded up the bikes and went to the one trail near town that doesn't go to complete crap during inclement weather: Captain Ahab!  Apparently everyone else had the exact same idea, because the trail was positively swarming with bikes bearing number plates.  I'm sure we looked like complete dorks to any locals unlucky enough to be stuck on the trail with us that day, but it's okay because we're enduro.
(If you don't know what enduro is, just watch this video)
After the ride we went to a barbecue put on by BME to mollify us about the race delay, then a Mexican restaurant, then back to camp for an early bedtime.  Fun fact about Utah: in some restaurant establishments, you can't just order an alcoholic beverage; you also have to order food, and eat it.  I don't know what happens if you order food and then don't eat it, but the server at the Mexican place was very adamant that this was the case.  Mormons may be polite, but they really want to make sure that no one will have fun if they're not having fun.
Sunday morning: word comes from Facebook that the race is on, but only a fraction of the second stage will now be run because the Forest Service and BLM are having a shit fit about the trail conditions.  This comes as great news to the majority of racers, because it cuts out the nasty, grueling, cross country-y part of the stage that is mostly likely to kill everyone.  However, it means that the first stage, starting from waaaay up in the La Sal mountains, will be wet and slippery and extra sketchy.
This is where the strategizing comes in.  I hadn't originally planned to race Moab because it's not really my jam: long, tiring, lots of pedaling; and my endurance was in the crapper because I'd been too busy working/packing/cleaning to train ride my bike a couple times a week in the entire month of August.  My forte is take-my-time climbs and fun gnarly descents, neither of which describes the original second stage of the Moab race.  But when my friend Megan broke her arm on a trip to Jackson at the end of August, I decided to help her out and buy her race entry so she wouldn't lose $175.  Then I looked at the BME standings and calculated that all I needed to win the series (i.e., earn the most points) was to get 6th place or better in Moab.  I wanted to win the series overall for two reasons: one, it would look good on a race resume if I want to try and get enough sponsors to go pro; and two, they give out good prizes to the series winners.
So, as stated before, I kept the balls in and played it safe during the race instead of blasting down the mountain like a crazy person, picking my lines and braking more than I would have normally.  Even so, my front tire slipped on a wet rock halfway down the first stage and I almost lost it. After the two timed stages, everyone still had to get all the way back to town, which was about 20 miles any way you sliced it, and my crew was in serious need of some beer when we arrived back at the sponsor village, which was generously provided by Oskar Blues Brewery.  Then I checked the printout of the standings, and got a bit of a surprise: the girl who won in my category had, in previous BME races, placed 8th, 8th, and 18th.  I was stoked for her--she's a really sweet girl, and a good rider, but I'm not entirely trusting that the timing was accurate at this venue.  Timing inconsistencies also happened at the BME race in Keystone (they erroneously put me in 5th place when I actually got 2nd place, 10 seconds back from 1st), but I decided not to contest it on this occasion.  I came in 4th, which was pretty much what I expected, and kept me in a comfortable lead in the overall by 110 points.  The prizes were pretty good, as I thought they would be: tires, Smith sunglasses (MSRP $159), wheels (MSRP $999), and a cool little CnCd metal trophy, which I like better than the medal I got last year.  I'm keeping the sunnies, though the fact that they cost the same as a month of Obamacare health insurance is a little galling, and I'm on the fence as to whether I should sell the wheels or put them on my bike.  They're bright yellow and very enduro.  After the awards were doled out, we drank some more beer and then the rest of my crew rolled out to their respective homes.  I had dinner at the brewery with one of the locals, slept in the van outside another friend's house, went for a quick easy ride in the morning and then headed back north to Pokey.  All in all, a good trip!
Next time: new-ish news from Pocatello.