Got there around 12pm and did some sessioning, had a hard time with some sections which required multiple hikes and do-overs. By the end of the day I had them all down except 2 sections. A big thanks goes out to my husband Roger for all the sessioning help and pushing my bike up the steep sections!

Saturday

Got there at 7:00am and repeated Friday’s drills. Finally got all the sections down. A big thanks to Jacob for pushing my bike up the chute section numerous times, you are truly my “Shuttlebuddy”!!! And to Wendy who stood by and cheered me on!!! And to Roger who helped me find my “focus” points. The biggest accomplishment of the day was getting 3 clean runs with lots of traffic and spectators about.

In the afternoon we (me, Kim, Traci and Wendy) headed out to practice the sport course. I managed to take the girls down for one run to show them the “big girl lines” and then while pacing them on the wall, I broke my chain (it’s the powerful legs everyone said).

Watched 4x, then Rog fixed the chain and then we went up for 1 more run before dark. All is good, bring on Sunday!!!

Tony G, The Path race team - Expert Men. Photo: Bryan Humberg

Sunday

Arrived at 7am, got my wristband and hiked up the hill. Dirt was still tacky from the rain and the conditions were a little different. Did 3 practice runs and then came down to rehydrate and grab some nourishment. The poor weather couldn’t make up it’s mind, sunny, cloudy, windy, drizzle, take your pick!! I ended up taking my raincoat up to the start so I could keep warm at the top of the hill. The rain ended up at bay and off to race I went!!! I had a clean run until I hit the slippery corner before the chute section and low and behold there was Eric Foltz kneeling behind the tape. Of course I looked at him and not around the turn and I ran smack into him!! The rest of the run was good, but I knew that I had already lost too much time to make up. I did sprint the wall and gave it all I had. I ended up 3rd and my time was dismal. Oh well, that’s racing!!!  Roger had a much better race than the 3 previous ones and ended up only 4 seconds behind his nemesis, Bobby Bondurant.

And then there were the awards!!!  Tong G. had made a comment about not coming back if he didn’t win, so Kim and I bowed down to him while he was on the podium.

I took a bow since the 1st and 2nd place winners didn’t stick around (but I look like I have stomach cramps). LOL….

Can’t wait for the finals, double points!!!!!