Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

USGP Louisville KY day 2

Still trying to come to grips with the fact that you all lied to me about being over my bad luck after the race on Saturday…

Oh wellz.

I took plenty of time to recon the changes in the course from Saturday to Sunday and felt pretty good about things once I hit the start grid. I raced #12 the previous day and was sporting #13 in this year so what could go wrong? Jared asked if I was going to run it upside down and I looked at him like he was speaking Chinese.

I engaged myself in a pleasant conversation with an Embrocation dude but then the race was set to start and he stopped talking to me. OK, time to get all serious and shit.

The official told us not to overlap wheels at the start and everyone had to put their foot down before the gun. Out the window went my entire start strategy. BTW, thanks to Spencer for being at the start to take my jacket, I felt like a pro who’s dreams were all about to come true.

The race started and I began to pedal my bicycle with all my strength!

Which was not a lot. It was clear that yesterday was the better day. Dreams not coming true.

Never the less I hit the barrier section and the first sand section in the top 20 or so. Things were going ok. Then some dude decided to crash in the sand right next to me which required me to make some adjustments to my line. These adjustments included riding into the course tape and flipping my entire carcass over my handlebars and into the sand. At this point I was two for two for my USGP Louisville lap one Sandman impressions.

So it was clear at this point that I was not going to achieve mah dreams or teh victories. FYI, they are not mutually exclusive.

I proceeded to extract my bicycle from the course tape with much tugging and a single word of curse. Then back on the bike and more strength filled pedaling.

My goal at this point was to move back up the field into top 20 position. I was passing guys here and there but it just wasn’t really happening for me. I did not suffer a lap of depression as I did the day before, I just kept pounding away trying to catch riders in front of me.

I spent some time pissed off because people were yelling something about 30 or 30th or something. I figured that not only was I out of the top 20 but was actually racing in the 30′s which filled me with a rage that I could not dismiss. Then I passed a dude that finished in the top 20 the day before and started to feel better about life.

At one point Casper yelled some encouragement my way as I came out of the second sandpit and I rewarded his cheer with a failed dismount and near successful castration. But I was not going to let that shit bother me in the leastest.

What really did make my day was being able to figure out how to ride up the steep “runup” in the second wooded section. Spencer and Jared assured me that it was possible so long as one could get a good run at it. It took a few laps for the race to open up but I was able to ride up this pitch successfully for the last four laps and enjoyed the cheering crowds who appreciated my amazing feats. You can watch this climb at 6:25 in the video below.

Most of the pros rode it, most of the others did not. Maybe it does not look that hard to you but I can assure you that dudes were crying.

All in all the racing was good, the courses were great and the highlight of the weekend was dinner with Jared who grilled the waitress about why she brought us separate checks.