The Downhill season kicked off yesterday with a bang! A large sized crowd was on hand for the opener of the Spring Downhill Series at Toro Park. The course was short and very fast with some great technical sections. The dirt was fairly dry and pebbly so picking tire pressures was the name of the game today, and
mixing that with some very high speed sections higher up on the
Dusty running to a 6th place finish
Me making my first run as an Expert
course it was a challenging and exciting course. Signing up in the morning cold, I watched the organizer write a big capitol "E" after my number, signifying "Expert" and my nerves started to run wild. I started to nit-pick my practice runs, brakes, the dirt, my helmet, food, everything!
Dusty running to a 6th place finish
Me making my first run as an Expert
Practices went fairly well, and I made my fair share of mistakes I had hoped to make early on. Zach was sporting his newly purchased single speed Santa Cruz Chameleon, and had entered the single speed class for the first time. As well his main Trek was outfitted with some shinny new improvements! One thing I love about downhill racing is illustrated by the following. Zach and I spent a significant period of time before our first run looking over a section near the end of the course that involved a rocky fast turn leading into a bump-up that, if you weren't in the right position, pitched you straight at a tree. A number of people had hit the tree that day one guy separating his shoulder, so it seemed like an good place to put some attention. After scoping all the lines possible, and considering all the technique variants we could use to cleanly make it through this section and not hit the tree, it was decided that we needed to just "make it happen". There wasn't any type of planning that was going to make this go any better, it just takes relying on your ability to improvise on the spot. Turns out the closer you came to hitting this tree, the faster you went through the turn. So testament to the sport, the name of the game is: you can't plan it and if you want it you gotta risk it. Worked out great I'd say!
Zach's 2nd place run in the Single Speed class
Results:
http://cccx.org/dh/2008/race1/2008_CCCX_DH_Race1Results.shtml
2 comments:
Zach, while hiking up to the top of the downhill run: "I got a kink in my shifter cuz I was fiddlin' with my nob..." So, Zach, was this before or after you exclaimed "GIRL POWER"!!! Thanks you guys for all the the laugh-till-you-cry moments! And CONGRATS to Team Miracle for a STELLAR start to the downhill season!
next time i'm getting a medal or going home in an ambulance! I'm hoping for the first one
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