REPRESENT

Today was a great day. Practice went from 8:30 to 11 and the trail was dry and fast and the weather was great. Team Shimano came through for me (again) after my first run. I ripped my deraileur cable in half and not only did they replace it for free and adjust it, but they had me back on the trail in less than 20 minutes. My buds Stephan and Clay helped my find some better lines and I felt pretty comfortable on it. Luckily amateurs went first and we were on course about 1:40 pm. I had two dabs and rode my brakes more than I should have but I posted a 3:01 and change. I placed 32 nd out of about 170 entries, which included all "experts" from 18 yrs up. Very happy with the result and it was a great race to "retire" the Giant DH Comp on.
After that we rode the lift back up and watched the fastest guys and girls in the world rip up (or down) the couse. There was a DJ in the woods and about 100 people with whistles, cow bells, and air horns screaming as each one raced by. lots o' fun.

Hey Now

The qualifier schedule ran late, as usual. I watched the pros run through what I think is the hardest part of the course and they were just Killing it. It didn't matter where they went, they just rolled over whatever was in their way. I saw one guy come off line, sideways, and just kept it pinned and smashed through the new line. Amazing. Here is a clip I took of world champion Sam Hill.

He didn't look stupid, crazy fast in this run and it proved to be true come race time. Granted the differences were measured in fractions of a second but he finished fifth.

Shimano was there and they adjusted my rear deraileur for me (something else is wrong because it kept jumpin' gears after they were done. While waiting i found two four leaf clovers. I put those Nuggets of Luck right in my pocket and I could tell there were there- because I had some good luck this weekend.
After chilling out for a while, I went and got a fun run in to kill time and realized that I was pretty tired. The weather is great. Hot at the bottom and breezy and cool up on the mountain. When my run came (after 5pm) I dropped in, dropped the first set of rocks, and then proceeded to run off course and hit a tree. In road racing school the first lesson is that you go where you look. As soon as I thought I was off line and going towards the tree I became "Target Fixated" on it. I have to look where I want to go- down the trail. Despite the complete stop, I put together a fast run from there on (it helps that it was really dry). I Qualified 59th (75 go to the final) in 3:07.80, 28.51 seconds behind the leader. Goal completed. My expert buddy Stephen qualified 53rd in 3:05.49. Afterwards included checking out some insanely fast salom (not duel, but timed), getting a "bath" at the pool, and eating everything in sight. Good Evening... there is a regge concert coming up, going to check it out. the other interesting thing is the one legged guy that races in my class. He had a bobble and got stuck just above the hard garden but he is inspirational.

Warming it up

Once at the mountain, I am all business about preparing for the race. I run the race course as many times as possible trying to figure out a way to go faster. My buddy, Stephen like to go do some fun runs and I can understand that but I need as much prep time as possible. I just finished the only practice session (88) that I will get and it went pretty good. The middle of the course has a really gnarly rock step section but it should be ok for race time. After that we did a fun run and right at the end there is a big drop that i kept my front end high for and it slapped down pretty hard. Now i have a huge flat spot in my rim. Should have kept to my business as usual... Qualifiers start at 1pm but my class goes last, closer to Five. Just looking for a clean run.

Hello US Open

I am literally driving to my first DH race of the season. Putting those texters to shame with my full size laptop and driving with a knee. Downside is I have not been on the bike at all, I have 2 hours to practice tomorrow before before the qualifier- and i am competeing against alot of experts. I hope to be one of thr 75 that qualify so that I get a free lift pass for sunday. Should also be fun to see the pros blitz down the mtn. The weather is supposed to be good- Really just hoping to have fun and forget about work.

I am on my old bike but it is pretty close to top shape.
Found out today that a new Trek Session 88 is on the way. New bike on Wednesday. cool. Old and Busted 54 lbs. New Hotness 39 lbs

Getting Back Into

Today Sal and I went on a 27 mile road ride with some hills at the end. We rode from the house to Brandy, on to Remington, then towards Jeffersonton before turning back. The highlight was the last leg with the wind at our backs, rolling like Gangsta's. It was cloudy with some sprinkles and some sun. Great ride but my achilles is a little achy.
On a bigger scale- TIME!
Time is so limited. Today, after I crashed for a couple of hours, I went out and disked the Moto-X track. The weeds are out of control and I really want to get it 100% rideable. - Riding and Time!
I am going to focus on the track because if I don't work on it now, it will be a jungle. So I am going to try to ride at least Wednesdays and once over the weekend.

long time no type

Italy was great, despite the rain. I did notice that there was hardly a person with a helmet in sight. Helmet discrimination in the USA sucks. Two of the best bike related things that I saw a guy pedaling his three speed holding a umbrella to stay dry and baby seats that bolted to the stem of the bike.
Maybe more on that later.

US Open Downhill race in New Jersey is next weekend. Not sure if I am going because you have to qualify on Saturday to race on Sunday and I have not been riding (outside of Italy) in a very long time.

Struggeling with wether or not to get a new rig. Any suggestions? My old rig is great other than it is 54 lbs.