Racergirl

Hi Melanie,

Congratulations on your win this past weekend - must be special to take the crown in your home country.

This is my first year racing Xterra and I've raced Temecula, Richmond, and Ogden. My races normally play out with a swim/bike that puts me into the top 1 or 2 in my division, once on the run the good runners track me down in the final miles.

As the year has progressed I've gotten better, but I'm wondering if I'm holding back to much on the bike. My best race was in Richmond where the run was flatter than the others. I've heard that Tahoe has a relatively flat run, and I'm wondering if I should use a strong swim/bike combo to put some more time into my competition as I run better on flatter courses.

I'm also interested to see if you'll be running a different front tire from your back. I live in the SW so I'm always riding in dry loose conditions and I have found that running a higher volume tire on the front gives me much better control downhill and minimizes front wheel washout.

Thanks,

Craig