The Rest of Nationals Weekend

Awesome! The demo program was only $10 more which allowed John and I to use several different bikes on the mountain. I tried the Scott Gambler, Kona Stab Supreme, and the Specialized SX. I loved the SX! It was a bit lighter and more nimble – which for my size and riding style seemed to work the best. The others were sweet too but if I were in the market, I would choose the SX.

The trails at Winter Park of course are amazing! Fast flying over huge rocks, ramps, dirt jumps = good times. The bikes with the extra squishy 7-9.5 inches of travel are so fun to ride over that stuff. I only crashed once due to a mechanical problem - however it was another hard crash. Going into a high speed turn the chain somehow rattled up and off the cassette and wrapped itself in the rear wheel…which according to John riding behind me, all of a sudden turned into a cloud of dust mixed with me and the bike tumbling and sailing through the air, with the 40+ pound bike landing on top of me of course.

Didn’t feel too bad until later…and this, combined with the hard crash a day earlier in the nationals race, is what caused me to have to pull the plug on the Super D at nat’s the next day. My right shoulder and forearm were completely hashed and extremely sore and stiff. Thinking about my wreck last year that took me out for the season I decided it would be best to sit this one out and recover. Tough pill to swallow though…I was excited for it and now even hungrier for next year.

Turned the rest of the weekend into a nice vacation. We drove out to Aspen and Snowmass Village. Then of course, had to swing through Woody Creek to drive by the favorite local hang out (Woody Creek Tavern) and home of the late Hunter S Thompson and pay homage to the man who spent his life documenting his adventures in search of the American dream.

I came back with one medal and a great vacation. Can't wait for next year!

I was kind of beat physically and mentally after the nationals, so I trained a little lighter for a bit – including some cross training in the gym. I had such a good time watching the 4X and practicing on the dirt jumps at Winter Park I decided I needed to get into something like that to mess around on. The closest thing to it around here is BMX…soooo, yep I bought a race BMX bike to help hone some sprint/jump/hard cornering skills. Plus there’s a track to practice on about a mile from my apartment. Kind of doubt I’ll actually race it, just something different and fun to train on.