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August
11th – On the way to D-town
I have been a huge slacker when it comes to writing my journals lately.
I guess I figured the new site would keep you all busy for a while
and I could take a break.
O.K so my first race back in Idaho didn’t go that great. I decided
not to race the downhill since I hadn’t been on that bike in over
a month and I heard the course was pretty brutal. My little footsy just
wasn’t ready yet. The 4-cross course in Idaho had a lot to be desired.
It was pretty much a dusty flat-track, but what can you do. The first
day of practice went surprisingly well and I ended up qualifying 3rd.
With Fionn and Katrina qualifying ahead of me I was in good company.
The next day were the finals and I was feeling pretty good other than
my toes swelling a bit and not feeling 100%. I won my first round and
was feeling good. In the next round it was Katrina, Buhl, Muxlow, and
myself. Katrina got a good gate and had the inside. I was in second to
the first turn, but when we were coming out of the turn Katrina swung
out kind of wide and I couldn’t cut Buhl off. I didn’t panic
though. I knew where I could make my move and just stayed right on her
wheel until the little step up. I knew she wouldn’t jump the step
up and I would. I got next to her and was on the inside heading for the
first to last turn. We were neck and neck with Buhl having the slight
advantage being on the upper part of the track and gravity working with
her. The next thing I know we are both leaning on each other heading
for the huge chair lift pole and I end up on the ground. I dusted myself
off and was pissed. Not at Buhl because it was clean racing, but because
I allowed her to get by me. So 5th place for me it was, which sure didn’t
help me in the point’s race.
I’ve had a couple stressful weeks at home and am now on my way
to Durango and can’t wait to get there. Yes, I realize that is
the site of my infamous crash of 2002, but I love going to D-town no
matter what. I’ll be chillin’ at Elke’s for a couple
days and getting some good riding in. Well, I gotta go…the plane
is boarding.
August
11th-Later Today
Elke picked me up at the airport and before we were even out of the parking
lot she asked if I wanted to ride moto with her and Marla. I was all
over it. I haven’t ridden my motorcycle in over a year and was
stoked. We got back to Elke’s at like 1:30 and Marla showed up
about a ½ hour later. I picked out my ghetto outfit from a bin
Elke had in the garage along with the size 10 boots. By the way I usually
wear a Jr. kids boot. We loaded up Marla’s trailer with the bikes
and we were on our way to New Mexico to do some trail riding. After a
45 min. drive we were there and putting all the gear on. I hooptied out
with my pink mtb helmet, blue Fox jersey, Schwinn pants, winter socks,
and boots 4 sizes too big. Marla was on her sweet KTM and I got to borrow
one of Elke’s KDX trail bikes.
We took some laps on the little
circuit track and then headed out for about an hour loop on some trail
Elke new about. At first I was SUPER sketchy. I don’t do well in
deep sand and kept swapping. Once on the trail though I started to get
the hang of it. Elke led with Marla riding like a champ and then pokie
hangin’ on behind. Motorcycles are weird. You have to ride them
all the time to feel totally comfortable and charge it and even if you
take a week off it feels funny. Well, maybe not for the rest of the world,
but that’s how it is for me. About an hour or so later we made
it back to Marla’s house on wheels and were worked. It was awesome
though. Straight off the plane onto the moto…. how can you beat
that? I’m sure I’ll be aching in the morning, but it’s
all good. Goodnight.
August
14th
Today
consisted of an easy little spin and then headed up to the mountain with
Elke
and
Carl “The Decorator” Decker. Once up there
I walked the DH course to check everything out and decide if I was going
to race it. After walking it I decided not race it and to concentrate
on the Mtn.-X. I felt like after not riding my DH bike for well over
a month and to pull off a top five against some of these girls would
be an extremely tough task. It’s pretty hard to just pin it if
you haven’t in awhile.
A bit later on after dinner Katrina, Fee, and I went over to the Maxxis
condo and played some cards, 3-5-7 to be exact. I hadn’t played
for quite awhile and you could tell when I lost $50 bucks in the first
45 min. Travis was kickin’ ass and I already owed April another
$30. I however redeemed myself by winning the pot of about $75 and since
it was close to midnight I called it a night.
August
15th
Today
we had qualifying for Mtn.-X, and it really couldn’t have
gone much S@#$$%^! Practice went well and I decided to use my hard tail
XTC bike. The course isn’t that rough and there are a bunch of
flat turns. The bike felt good, but the pilot was a bit off. I ended
up 9th and tomorrow HAS to be better because it can’t get much
worse. Luckily they moved the start gate since it was completely unfair
as of yesterday. Now it should be a pretty fair race and especially with
the potential to make some moves in the first turn. So until then…..
