The Vegas Hangover

Upon returning to Vegas it was back to work. Literally, RallySport Aquatics is in full swing, and training-wise. The reality is that although Vegas went pretty well, there isn't a whole lotta of fitness in this body. If i want to make it through January and Nationals, some money needed to go into the bank.

First things first, Boulder Racing #1, Valmont Bike Park. Breeze Bars is a main sponsor this season of the Boulder Racing Series so we were there all day. I coached the kids from 6-8 and then rolled over to the park in time to watch my nephew jack do his first race. It was pretty sweet, he started in dead last and then worked his way up. Tongue wagging and suffering, Jackson got all the way back to 3rd before a spin out and settled for 4th. Pretty sweet.

It was nice to have the tent at the race because it gave the team a place to hang out. I love that ou new team Plains to Peaks Racing is a part of all this, because it always helps the pre-race to have good friends like Spencer and Scott around. I got warmed up on the knoobier tires but decided there was enough tact to ride the Specialized Triggers on the Carroll G:38's. It was the right choice, although my PSI was ultimately a bit high.

Even though my call up wasn't great, I was able to snake a 2nd row start and as we hammered down the dirt road I found a good opening and hit the climb in 10th or so. I was shocked that my body had responded to Vegas and the travel alright and maintained a great spot near the front of the race. About halfway in, I started to hurt and I mean hurt. I was still pushing the gear and holding the power, but I was tired and I was starting to make mistakes. Valmont is pretty technical and as the day went on, it dried out. My psi was a little and coming down the main descent i washed out a corner. It was one of those crashes where you don't even come out of the pedals. Slip and I was on my hip. I clipped out and got back going with not a huge amount of damage done. Then came the big one.

I rolled around a left hander that had been given a solid mud rut through the course of the day. My front wheel went outside of the rut, but my rear wheel went in it. No bueno. I high sided and went flying. A soft landing but upon retrieving the bike, I realized my day was damaged. My front derailer had been driven into the chain rings and lodged itself there. I pulled on it and it broke. The cage was in my hand. I cleared away the excess metal and started again, but by now I was way back. Boulder Racing series scores all the way down and i figured a low placing was better than a DNF so I soldiered on. I took 34th on a tough day,but the real bummer was that i ripped my new Plains to Peaks skinsuit. Huge bummer.

Things ended on a very high note as I watched Breeze roll a great day and take 2nd in the Women's 4's. She is getting pretty good at this cross thing. I think I need to watch it.