WHAT A FEELING

RACE REPORT
It ended up being a great weekend and an even better race then I thought it would be for me.
The sun was out Saturday and Sunday and it was as hot as can be and it’s hot, windy, cold, or windy with the hot and cold on any given day when you race SRC races at Fontana.
My Saturday and Sunday practice were very light and I wish it would have been more, but as this story progresses I really didn’t need it; this was a day that that was just going to click for me.

This was the last of the Cal State races, as a matter of fact it was the Cal State Finals Championships, so points were on the line as well as titles for some, but for me the pressure was off I missed two of the four races so for me I figured I was out of the running for a top slot just do it for the guts and glory.

THE COURSE
Course lay out was great if you ask me very flowing with a mix of a few jumps, great rock sections , nice fast turns, and mixed in with two of the longest pedaling straights I have ever encountered in dh racing one in which has earned the name “THE WALL”. This area separates the men from the boys.

THE RACE
Well with the pressure off I could do what I was looking forward to doing and that was race testing the AIRBORNE TAKA DH bike we had.

In the gate and just before the nerves will ramp up a bit, I will relax myself with a little breathing exercise, become calm, and “BAM” hit the pedals and start clicking the gears, heart rate rising I’m moving, but this time I’m riding with an amazing calm ( I guess you could say I was in my Jedi state.)

Everything just flows, you flow with the bike, and the course I was having a really good time on the bike and the course, and you hear your friends cheering you on to pump you up more it’s GREAT. The wall didn’t even get to me. I pedaled the wall sitting and standing pushing the last of it for that last little sprint. Oh man did I feel like heaving afterward. When I felt better I picked up the bike and went to go back to the group I was surprised to see I had a flat front tire, “WOW” I thought this race couldn’t have gone any better. I was in for more surprises.

ALWAYS THE BRIDES MAID NEVER THE BRIDE
That heading has always been in the back of my mind. Now I will always wait to see the standings when there posted I don’t know why I just do this, well as I was walking to go talk to a friend, and RL comes by to tell me,“Hey you need to go and look at the standings.” OK, the way he said it was kind of weird, so I go over and someone tells me “Good job”, I’m like OK as I look up and find my name and can’t believe what I’m seeing “1ST PLACE” NO WAY ,NO STINKIN’ WAY I did it, I really did it this is cool.

OK you got to know why I’m jazzed about this I’ve been racing DH since 97’ end I have never set a foot on that oh so elusive top slot on the podium and what a feeling it is to final stand up there as a 1st place winner, to top off the 1st place, I also ended up as the 5th place Cal State championship series overall. It was a good day.

All I could say is “Don’t ever quit, find your flow, and have fun doing it.”
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