finals at snowmass

the season has finally come to an end. i just got back from snowmass, CO this morning and now its back to reality and work. It was a good season up until i got sick right after deer valley, and i am still taking antibiotics to help kill the stuff messing up my intestines.
i knew racing this past weekend was not going to be easy- the course had quite a bit of climbing in it, and some good technical single track thrown in. actually the course should have been good for me, only i haven't been training really and thats not good for a race like this. but thinking that its the last race, i went out super hard on the start of the xc- thats not what i usually do. i blew up pretty hard, and got passed all the way up the second climb. after the first hour, i started feeling better, and by the second lap i found my rhythm and began picking girls off. by this time though i needed to really make up some lost time, and i rode the decent on the second lap sloppy and burped my tire. i had one CO2 in my pocket, and decided to just put some air in instead of putting a tube in. bad idea. the tire went flat again, and i had to ride it down the entire decent flat. i am pretty sure i ruined my rim, and got passed by most of the girls i had worked to pass earlier. needless to say, it was my worst finish of the season.
for the short track the next day, i was ready to go- i had a great warm up and felt good considering the suffering i did the day before. i had a great line i was looking to take off the start on the inside corner. i got there alright, but instead of moving up, i was flipping over a kenda girl who wiped out in front of me. not cool. as i picked myself up and ripped my bike from the pile of carnage, my adrenaline took over. i looked up the climb and realized i was already almost a half a lap behind. thats not good. i sprinted up the hill and caught the tail end, and began passing girls while feeling like i was breathing through a tube. im not sure if i have ever heard myself breathe that hard before. anyway, i got pulled pretty quick since i was so far back. i got a good 12 minutes in- a good opener for super D in a couple hours.
i rode the chair lift up for a super D practice run for the first time in my life without a snowboard attached to my feet. after experiencing the beauty of the mountain and the ease of getting to the top, i might have to do that more often-
for super D, i rode my hard tail. only because that was the only bike i had. a dual would have been MUCH more comfortable to say the least. but whatever, i was doing it for fun- it was the last race of the season and why not show off my lack of downhilling skills. the start was interesting- we had to lay our bikes down about 20 ft away, then lay on our backs. when the guy said go, we jumped up, ran and grabbed our bikes, ran with them up a hill around some cones, set them back down, ran to touch a line about 30 ft away, then run back to the bikes and ride up a gravel road. i was tired just from that- i could have run faster, but i was laughing too hard. i suppose if i took the whole thing more seriously, i could have done better.
after all that racing, it was time to have a little fun. at a local restaurant in snowmass, there was a themed 80's party with a DJ where everyone who was staying that night in town attended. i haven't danced that much since college- it was a great way to end the season. it was sort of sad though since i probably wont see some teammates until next xc season. but, the end of xc means the beginning of cross, and thats something to look forward to. look out. here i come.