Angel Fire

I got my new bike last week thanks to Cutting Edge Sports and the Trek Store Boulder. They worked overtime to make sure it was all put together and ready to go to Angel Fire, NM to race. Thanks guys!!
So, now for the race recap. Saturday I got up and did a pre-ride loop. The course was pretty wet, really rocky, and slick. It also seemed like a lot of fun and was definitely one of the more technical race courses I've done. I "rocked the casbah" (in Eringlish this means I cleared some rocky technical section) a few times and was feeling pretty good about my bike, my skills, and my fitness. I then cleaned up and spent some time hanging out with Ari at our condo watching the rain fall. Then it was time to get chamoised up again and warm up for the short track. Without realizing it, soon I was standing at the start waiting for the official to send us off. i hadn't paid attention and had lined up on the inside line in the very back row, basically the worst starting position i could've picked. The gun went off and i was in last...through the first turns still in last, watching as the leaders rode away...I was able to pass a few people on the first open climb and tried to bridge up to the leaders who were really long gone. The effort sort of blew me up and I became resigned with my current position. I got a second wind towards the end and managed to move up a bit, but it still wasn't my best performance. As I explained to those that asked what the hell I was doing in the very back for the first lap; my head just wasn't in it.
Unfortunately, it was a similar story for the cross country race the next morning. I could go through a play by play detailing physical struggles and technical issues, but the bottom line is I wasn't there physically or mentally. I took my first ever DNF in a mountain bike race and Ari and I were on the road home before the rest of my field had even finished.
However, we did stop at the New Mexico Vietnam Memorial on the way. I mean it WAS Memorial Day weekend! That was pretty cool actually and put things into perspective a little bit. It also made me wish that my Grandfather was still alive. There are moments when I think of him and wish he were still around, and this was one of those moments for some reason.

Catch-up

Yeah, I'm delinquent. Severely delinquent. I owe several updates for my faithful followers...I would use the excuse that I've been busy, but everyone's busy so that's not really a valid excuse. The real reason is, as my reader's know, I really try to maintain a balance in my life and for the past month I have not been able to get the "life" scales horizontal-i.e. they've been steeply tipped in the direction of racing and work while the other aspects have taken the very back seat in a 15 person van (sorry Ari).
So here's the abridged version to catch-up:
~Sea Otter cross country was hot. I ran out of water, I got a stinging bug stuck in my jersey and got stung several times, but I finished pretty strong and felt pretty good aside from the dehydration.
~Got home to meet our new puppy, Riley. Who is a handful. To be specific he's an ornery handful of mischievous energy.
~Raced in Nathrop for the MSC cross country race. Had a good race. Dropped my water bottle and again had some dehydration issues. Finished 3rd though which I was happy about. Plus my technical skills have improved significantly since the last time I did this race, so that was encouraging.
~Raced the Battle of the Bear race. Way fun, perfect day, great race. I got 4th. Katie Compton, Heather Irmiger, and Judy Freeman came ahead of me. Which I don't mind since they're more on the international caliber of things and I'm just trying to become of National caliber.
~Sold my bike. Found out that some key components are missing on new bike-BUMMER. I am bike-less for now, but the plan is to buy temporary key components and get the bike built up ASAP!!