End of Season

Been slow to update but it was a good weekend last weekend. Spent Saturday at Arrowhead watching the WildCats beat up on the Cyclones. Went home, washed cow dung off the Top Fuel from South Dakota and oiled the chain for the KC Cup mtb race at Swope Park. Went for a ride on the 29er and it rained the entire time so i figured it was going to be muddy come sunday.

Sunday morning we headed back to KC and Swope Park. Ive never ridden the trails there but had heard lots of good things. I figured that any race put on by Craig and Scott of Heartland fame was bound to be pretty good. Did a practice lap with Travis Donn and had a hard time keeping it upright and a harder time keeping up with Travis. Headed to the starting line and lined up on the back row of the Cat1 race with the elder statesmen. The course had a pretty long road climb so I wasnt too worried, plus I felt pretty bad anyways. By the time we reached the singletrack I was in 5th or 6th and content to just follow wheels as long as they stayed upright. At the first double track section I pushed the pace a bit and rode up to third. Followed some more wheels and at the next doubletrack section moved to 2nd behind Travis. From this point Travis lost all riding ability and was all over the place. Eventually he let me by as he was having a hard time keeping it on the course. I picked up the pace and found some good legs and my mud/root/rock riding abilities started coming back. Shortly into the second lap I decided to beat the first lap time by a few minutes and started really cranking. Went around a corner hard and rolled the front tire clean off the rim. Crashed pretty well and now my shoulder hurts. Ahhh. Put in a tube and riders started coming by. Worked my way back towards the front into 2nd by the end of the lap. About a third of the way into the 3rd and last lap I caught the leader and set about getting to the finish line. This is when my rear tire started spraying sealant. I stop and do the shaking thing, it stops leaking. I ride some more and it leaks some more, I shake some more and add air. Repeat. Decide im going to ride it to the finish and make it there with about a minute lead. Great payout for the win and a good end of the season.

Now its time to derust the cross bike, cut down on the rideing, and try to stay midpack for a few cross races until I get bored with that and decide to call it a bike racing season. 2011 schedule is already out so motivation isnt too far away.