Rough Start...

The season hasn't gotten off to the best start for me so far. From getting sick and not being able to race a couple weeks ago to completely bonking out in the race Saturday, it's been a bit disheartening. It's hard not to project poor finishes out onto equipment and course condition, but to be honest "old yeller" was running great for a 10 year old bike, and the course couldn't have been better, with hard packed moist loam trails lined by green grass and oak trees. Perhaps the mixture of not being trained well enough and dehydration contributed to this past races poor finish, but whatever it was requires more attention to fix!

The life of a student isn't quite conducive to maintaining the training levels of a competitive cyclist. But as the days lengthen, the amount of time on the bike will increase and with that I hope to see lap times decrease. Speaking of the life of a student, my institution conveniently scheduled a mandatory 3-weekend course over two of the upcoming downhill races... So, my excitement has been dampened substantially...

For the rest of the guys, the season seems to be starting extremely well so far. Saturday, Dusty put in a very strong finish, beating his previous time for this course by 5 minutes, and inching to within 20 minutes of the leaders, who, mind you, are about to move up to the pro class!
Unfortunately Zach wasn't able to race Saturday, but the race prior he maintained a great pace and put in a strong finish! These guys are great to race with.

Welcome Stacy into the blog content, as she deserves the gold star for finishing 6th in her first EVER race, less than ten minutes behind the leader. Her nerves were quickly dispelled when she saw the results posted, confirming that she is a much better rider than she gave herself credit for! Congratulations Stace, we look forward to more races of trying to keep you from eventually beating all of us!!
Upcoming race is a Downhill at Toro Park on 3/9. As much as it pains me, and no matter how many times I double-check the calendar, it looks like I'll have to be passing it up for the sake of graduating in December. This seems like a harbinger of the kinds of sacrifices I may have to make in the years to come...

Results: http://www.cccx.org/mtb/2008/race3/2008_CCCX_MTB_Race3_Sport.shtml
More Photos: http://em.scottmosherphotography.com/g/xc311&gallery_page=&gallery_all=&view=1&photo_page=1#photo_s