Downhill #2: No longer under the radar

Well, this past Saturday was the second of the spring downhill series. Zach and I showed up sporting new team colors of our recent sponsorship, Family Cycling Center in Santa Cruz. Its nice to be supported by a shop, but it was a new experience for me. I felt all the more "visible" in the yellow jersey, and I think I had grown accustomed to cruising just under the radar of that scene. With visibility comes the potential for your times and finishing standings being tracked, and for a while I think being low profile allowed me to finish wherever and feel okay about it, as if I were only riding for myself. But, with advancement come the notice of others, and if I'm not comfortable with that, then I don't think I deserve to be up front! So armed with that thought, I dawned that yellow jersey (which I'll remind is the color of victory in the Tour de France!) alongside Zach and hit the trails!Practice was not smooth. The course was very dry and pebbly, and it seemed no matter how much air pressure i took out of the tires, they just wouldn't hook up. I was experimenting with a new pair of Kenda Nevegals (thanks Kenda!) and i just don't think that is at all their strong point. I'll remember to set those aside for the more loamy races. Two practice runs consisting of both wheels sliding every which way left me quite nervous for the first race. The sun was pretty strong that day, and i felt tired even from the two runs...not to mention the two hikes up to the start! I felt nervous as Zach took off on his run a minute before mine, and I watched him accelerate down the fireroad start. The first race went great, though I made more than a few mistakes. There was one turn that came off the first fast fireroad that, no matter how much effort, I couldn't manage to keep my wheels from sliding out. Though I never crashed, i did make a lot of dust and take portions of a second off my time. The rest of the course was about the same, dusty lines, and deceiving corners. I finished strong and took 3rd in the Expert Class and 2nd in the Hardtail Class. Very pleased!Zach took very strong runs aboard his two very different rides. It has to be hard to reprogram from a plush heavy full suspension to a light hardtail single speed, and I have to commend him on turning in such similar fast times! After all the times were counted, Zach finished in at 2nd in the Sport Class and 2nd in the Single Speed Class! All in all we hit the podium four times in the top 3!As for now, my downhill schedule will take a break in lieu of midterms, a trip to New York and a speed climb of Washington Column's South Face with Stacy. It will ramp up in a big way in early April with the Sea Otter coming up, and I'll be scrambling to get practice time in on Dual Slalom courses, as that is the event I'm putting the most effort into! There is an XC race next weekend, and I hope to see the whole crew out there. Dusty is in Moab right now, exploring the trails around slickrock. I'm hoping he comes back with good photos and stories to post here!

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