MBR.com: Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

Dave: Not really, just stayed with my basic training schedule during the week. Actually rested a little bit this week, but I still got some quality training in too.

MBR.com: In the last two months how many hours a week have you trained?

Dave: About 12 to 15 hours a week.

MBR.com: Were you strong from start to finish?

Dave: No I wasn't. I was hurting on the first lap. As the race went on I was starting to feel better and about the third lap I really started to feel strong. That's when I decided to take off, make an attack and see what would happen.

MBR.com: When did you put the hammer down?

Dave: About a quarter of the way through the third lap. That's when I attacked. Jed was doing a really good job of holding me off and keeping me in my place by riding wide on the trail. Then I got an opening and took advantage of it and got my gap.

MBR.com: Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

Dave: Yes, I broke my seat! I crashed on the windy downhill that had all of the S-bends in it. I caught my pedal on one of the little tree stumps that was sticking up and I crashed, bent my rear derailuer hanger, ripped my seat off the bike and bent my rear wheel. I had to ride standing up for a little over half of the last lap.

MBR.com: Unbelievable! Did you have any unusual luck?

Dave: I was lucky that nobody caught me when I lost my seat. When I crashed I was on the ground for about 10 seconds or so and I was just trying to figure out what happened.

MBR.com: Were you happy with the way the race was run?

Dave: Yes. The course was marked well. Sport racers that you were lapping respected you and let you by. Everything went well.

MBR.com: What was your prize for First Place?

Dave: $200

MBR.com: If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

Dave: I'd hope it wouldn't have started so fast or I wouldn't have felt so slow in the beginning. I had someone taking splits for me. My last lap was my fastest lap The first lap just seemed so hard for some reason. I got here a little late and didn't get my normal warm-up in and that probably had a lot to do with how I felt the first lap. To do something different would be to warm-up a little longer.

MBR.com: Didn't you also have a problem with food poisoning recently?

Dave: Yeah, something that I ate Friday just didn't sit well with me on Saturday and I felt like I was hung over without drinking the whole day.

MBR.com: Is there anything you would like to add?

Dave: Just that the race was well run. I appreciate the people putting on the race and putting in the time and effort it takes to run an event like this. Everybody rode professionally and didn't mess around with one another. The race came together quite well.

MBR.com: How do you rate the course?

Dave: I liked it, this is my kind of course. There are some climbs in it that will take your energy and you have to work pretty hard on. The singletrack was fun, twisty and hard-packed. This is one of those courses where you could stay in the big ring for I'd say 80 percent of it and I kind of like that.