This was a good day. Woke up earlier, ate less, warmed up lots and felt good as we started immediately with 1800 feet of climbing.
I made it over the top in a good group, only to promptly flat on the ensuing downhill. Second flat in a week and also second flat in about eight years - I guess you can't control when you slash through a tire. When you do and you're careening down a ski-hill jeep road descent, it's interesting. Combination priority of preserving life and the carbon rim that is now smashing over every rock in tis path.
I lost 5 minutes in the tire change (not highly practiced these days) but felt surprisingly unfussed by my fate. Events being what they were, I was still racing, still in one piece, and still happy to be on a bike, with two prior days to get rid of frustrations. Plus everyone was so nice offering assistance as they flew by (thanks Ian for retrieving my bottle, very sporting)
I had fun seeing everyone on the way back up, rode with Erik a little and then settled in for the penultimate 3000 foot climb into the high alpine. I wish I could have looked around more near the top but was motivated by a few danglers from the group I flatted out of.
Off the race course, it was an awesome weekend. Four days of nothing but talking bikes, olympics, eating junk and juvenile jokes with Erik, Chris, and Jared. While the under-23 riders were slaying the racecourse this weekend, I forgot about 'life' and was transported back to the mindset of a simpler time when my summer's existence was full of bike and no worries.
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That was a heck of a lot of "no worries" this weekend for being just 3h from home. I had an awesome time. I liked seeing Jared and Chris recount their experiences from the day, as it came through eyes of "new to mountain biking" more which isn't always how we discuss. I liked eating and sleeping with little abandon. And I even saw Shawn on the trail once and offered him a tube!
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