Frozen Hog is the XC season opener. Not a part of any series and predictably in some type of snow, it primary motivation is pure fun and fund raising. Never the less anyone who thinks they are good in the snow show up. 29r's incase you don't look around are taking over the podium and XC races in general and I knew snow was one of there specialties. So I lowered my tire pressure to about 18-25lbs and in the start road away from the pro field with a running start and held the lead until the last 4 minutes of the course and was passed by two 29rs approaching the finish line. They rerouted the course right before the start and I made many wrong turns and even back tracked until I could see second to confirm I was on the right path. I finished 1st in 40+ expert and 3rd overall. I get my 29r in the next week or 2, then the scales will be balanced. 
The confusion is complicated from traditional culture in the road racing industry. The last to use progressive materials and technology. The last to clip in, use index shifting, threadless headsets, tubeless, shunning materials like aluminum, carbon etc. The UCI " created a rule to suffocate this knowledge to protect past records set on out dated geometry. Most of the industry is spoon fed from engineers and designers who have little experience in a limited area of cycling and are forced to design inside the UCIs limitations.
Jan 3rds " Last Call" cyclocross race A field. I rode off for a lap before slipping to 5th or so.
