Saturday Photos here
Sunday Photos here
The 2 days saw different flashes of race brilliance and fun factor, they showed me progress on a few area I consider my self weak and in the end they showed how much fun it can be suffering with friends, regardless of results.
Saturday was to be rainy/snowy and brutal, the drive up to Ogden was proving the forecast wrong, warm and dry, but as the morning went on the course deteriorated. Lyna had a race that we all dread, the mind not in the game, but since she is an endurance rider, she pushed through.
I had a descent start, stayed towards the front, found some good lines early, was trying to hold wheels and keep speed through the Twisties. The course was ful of mud and leaves which created a mulch like clinging substance, a second bike and a pit person would of been great to have, but i didn't have either. At about 25 minutes in I was running 3rd, right behind Sam. Kracht was right behind me. I was feeling strong and had some in the reserve tank
At 31 minutes in I had been running in 2nd and pulling Warsocki back, I was feeling good, riding smooth and powering out of the saddle where it was good to.
About a 1/4 lap after the above photo, in the twisty section, a bit after a charging on fire, clean biked Ohran got past me, my front tire washed out and put me into a tree, hard, I got right back on, told my self to ride the adrenaline, well there was no adrenaline, quite the opposite, I got passed by Sam and Kracht after that. The below picture shows a visible (to me) change in posture and race mojo. about 5 minutes post tree hug.
With around 3 laps to go, Daren got around me, I held onto him pretty tight until a lack of rear brake put me into the tape and got me caught up in the tape pole. I then had to dig deep to hold of Dr. X, who was charging hard. Kracht lost his crank while in 3rd, so I ended up 5th on the day. All in all a good result, but I will have the what coulda been in my head for a while.
Sunday dawned a bit cold, but blue skies, which my bike was grateful for, but deep inside I was sad, Wheeler is a great cross course, although it does not suit me, lots of drag strip sections, very little technical, leaves skinny little me a bit off the back here. Top it off with the Cat 1/2 roadies that show up for the 35+A race, well then it is gonna be a hard long day.
Lyna had a great race and seemed to be having 'fun' out there.
I got the call up again, although they did not update the standings after Saturday, as soon as I lined up we were off, I tried to get out to the front, cause I wanted the hole shot, I got around Sam about halfway to the singletrack and made it through first. I led for most of the first lap and the group got around me a bit after the off camber section. Kind of fun, but then i was a bit blown up.
I got popped off the back, out of the top 10 for a while, but slowly made my way back, I caught onto to Kracht and we worked together to get up to Gary. The 3 of us then rode together for a lap or 2, Krachty got around a slowing A group rider, right before the off camber and got a gap, Gary and I tried to pull him back, but I popped at this point.
Good job to everyone out there. About 800 photos will be up on flickr at some point. Saturday A and 35+ only, Sunday every race bu C men and B Women (Battery left at home)
And for those who cheated, I don't know who did it, but heard a few did, why didn't you just skip the off camber section and really get a good result for it. Hell on the last lap, I couldn't get out of my left pedal and ripped a gash in my knee trying to NOT avoid the barriers, I went over them and still finished, with lots of blood on my legs
If you cheated, Karma is a bitch. If I was a promoter and had 2 independent sources, you would be DQ'd and banned for the next race. Ridiculous, what is at stake here for any of us, NOTHING.
Sorry bout the rant. that behavior is right down there with EPO and blood transfusions.
So Wednesday it is off to Cletus land for home cooking and another double weekend of racing.
3 comments:
those people know who they are and some of us were in the bushes taking pictures, watching, and shaking our collective heads.
you never know whos in the bushes.
What's the Flickr address?
You look like you're crying in the second picture. Good luck and have fun with Cletus!
Post a Comment