Welcome to the Pain Cave!

That pretty much sums up my first ever short-track cross country race. For those that don't know what short track is, here goes..... Imagine a bunch of riders all together on the same short course. The course was about 2 mins long, and you keep going in circles until some random guy with a pot belly says 2 more minutes. I swear if that guy were ever to experience the hurt that we do on a short-track race, he would ring that damn bell sooner. Anyway, we raced around this same 2 min long course for 25mins straight, then they call out 2 more laps. So pretty much you are going all out for about 29mins, not a heck of a lot of fun. I guess there are some tactics to it as well, but I chose to disregard any insight the veterans had for me, and went off the front of the pack right away. Great Idea, I was thinking to myself. What an idiot!!!!! Anyway here is the aftermath............................. Heart Rate Max was 196. By-the-way, thats the highest I have seen it all year.That was the closest I have ever been to revisiting my breakfast on a bike before. Just ask one of the other guys in my class. One kid finally caught me, and decided to put an attack on. I countered and sat on his wheel, to the top of the climb, where he quickly released his innards!! I passed him, and ended up beating him in a sprint finish on the final lap. It was super fun, but was really painful!

Joanna ended up finding out that she was going to have to race against the sport women, and that everyone could see the whole course from the ski deck, and that everyone would be able to watch her. She opted out of the short-track.

After spending all week trying to get over some nasty bug I got while I was in Michigan, my voice was gone, lungs were full of phlegm, and the short track didn't help anything. The XC race on Sunday was pretty disappointing. I had the lead through the climb, and hit the single track section with one other rider in sight. We caught the expert women that went off in front of us, and he got around them, and I didn't. I came out of the single track, and went to hit the gas, and the engine puttered a little, and conked out! That pretty much sums it up, it took everything I had to finish in 3rd place. Oh-well, a good week of rest ahead of me, and one more MSC race. Keystone is Labor Day weekend. Joanna finished the XC race in the top spot on the podium once again. If I could only get her to race the short-tracks, she would have the series points standings all wrapped up.

After the race on Sunday, the team help it annual team BBQ. There was lots of great food (Thanks Strouse!), Cold Beer (Thanks Breckenridge Brewery), and fun. Another great weekend for COMotion, 1000 points both days, that pretty much leaves only crying left for Rocky Mountain Racing!!!! Congrats to everyone, especially TC! Your killin' it man! Here are some more pics to enjoy..

Here is the start of the Pro/Semi-Pro Men Short-track start. Once again, thanks to Colorado's great monsoon season, the skies opened up and poured. Making the hurt that I talked about earlier, hurt even more....

Here's Juth, Me, and Felix right after finishing the XC race on Sunday. Remember all that rain I talked about, yup, the course was a little on the muddy side. Super fun though! Great course, just wish I was feeling better.

Camping again with the dogs

COMotion Pro Steve Iles, sufferin' in the rain during the short-track

Thats it for now, Finally we are going to have a weekend home without much to do. Although the FJ40 is suppose to be done this weekend, so I may be heading to Denver one day to pick it up. I will post pics as soon as I get it home.