Monday Night Glory

Short report this week. Same old same old, really. Rod and Stewart are having fun in the kids race and this is translating to them enjoying their bikes more and more at home and around the neighborhood. Good on you, boys!

My race was the usual affair. There's that quote about doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results. Something about the definition of insanity. I'm gonna have to try something new in one of these races to break the streak I'm on.

Super Relax was out in full force. I've never seen so many butterflies and acorns prancing around in the dirt. Makes me wonder if someone else is going to be motivated to be the anti-team because we're too big and corporate...

I'm heading off to Downieville, CA later in the week for the Downieville Classic. No cell phone service and awesome trails. And the local breakfast joint serves bacon the size of 2x4s. Can't wait. Then again, I'm already looking forward to getting back home. But it will be after next Monday night so there will be no race #4 report from this guy.

Short Track #2

So far this seems to be a series of Tonys. Last week it was Mr Kic and this week it's all about Tony Pereira. I owe Tony a lot this week because he got my head back in the game. 

I rolled out to PIR in time for set-up and the Kids Race. Getting there early allowed me to pre-ride the course which is something I  have historically never done. This time it was a mistake. It was a hard, power course and after an easy inspection lap I was psyched out. Last week's course was smooth and flowy and I had the perfect gear on thebike. This week the course was soft, soul-sucking loamy dirt and lots of power uphills and hard turns. It's not often that I get that weird vibe but I had it and I had it bad.

While waiting for the Kids Race I bumped into John Dorfer and even he commented on difficult he thought the course was. Damn, if John thinks it's hard, I'm in trouble, I figured. But I put my focus on the kids event and ran behind Stewart for his race. They lengthened the course significantly and I think it got to him. But the kid rode it home and then our attention turned to Rod. It was a longer course now and they'd do two laps. Even better, the kids knew each other from the previous week so the anxiety of the start was no more. Good sports those kids.

The horn sounded and the kids fell took off. Looks like they had a lot of fun. Rod gunned it on the second lap and tried to take a tight turn too close while making a pass. He went down pretty hard and looked like a pretzel from where I was standing. But he jumped up and rode it home. And he seemed awfully proud of that chainring scrape. (Until later that night when it had to be cleaned out!)

            Lap One

Lap Two

Now it's my turn and I'm telling Mrs The CD that I don't want to go out. I've got a strange vibe and tonight's just not my night. But as I'm saying all this, all the guys from the SingleSpeed class roll by and say hello. I've

been spotted and there's no way to bail now. So I do something that resembles a warm-up and find my new favorite spot on the start line. It's a good spot but tonight's first turn is so close to the start that it really didn't matter. I don't care because I'm making that my spot. Now, back to Tony...

I'm on the line all weirded out and suddenly my bike gets slammed into from behind. It startles me but I don't think much of it because I'm so spaced out in my mind at the moment. And then Tony says something sarcastic like "sorry" or "excuse me" and I'm just stoked to see him. He missed the first week as he had just returned from a trip to Salt Lake City. Tony's got a hell of grin and he just oozes excitement for riding his mountain bike. And so there it was, a little bit of excitement and focus coursing through the veins and then Shazam! the horn sounds and we're off. 

I slogged it through and at least made a showing. Turns out I had an OK time, too. Another week and another cool Tony experience. You know, I've got two boys of my own and I'd be mighty damn proud if they grew up to be like Tony P. Maybe he'll offer them a summer apprenticeship in a few years. 

Thanks, as always, to Mrs The CD for our picnic dinner and snacks. And for cleaning up the wounds and settling the nerves. 

More pictures are here