Good Times/Bad Times

This weekend's Big Bear race was phenomenal..mostly because I only had to complete the pre-ride on Saturday and not the actual race! ;) As I pedaled away on a course that seemed to be waaaaay too much fireroad, I suddenly found myself makng a turn on to Red Ant Trail. WOW was that a friggin' blast! Steep drops, sand chutes, and rocky step-downs..mmmmmm. The Expert/Semi/Pro classes were in for a treat! With one of the longest and highest courses Big Bear has put out for a while, the true mountain biker had a distinct advantage. Even the final descent was down Fall Line, a generally tough xc finish for most.
As the night progressed on Saturday, familiar faces cam in to the old Switzerland Chalet. Ara and Stikkity, James, Papo, and Vegas Bob. We also had Roger and Vanessa, two new Backbone groupies from the Bert area. Although I really enjoyed being back in the ol' team condo, I definately missed Jim, Rhoda, and Brianna. Oh, and James, true to form, spent EIGHT F*****G HOURS tearing down his bike...again..the night before/morning of a race. If he didn't get his first podium of the year, I'd probably kill him...but he did great, so he can live...for now..

Sunday arrives, and beer bottles littered the place. It was a hive of activity, with me preparing the days feed zone stuff, and everyone preparing to race. With 25 miles, and 3,225' of climbing, Bert went off first. Vegas, Dawn, James and JAY SCHIPPERS (doesn't he race dh??) followed and the race was on. Bert pulled so much time on Red Ant trail, he ended up the 12th place Semi-Pro! Vegas had a blast on his Kona, Dawn..poor Dawn..she double flatted and had to walk..alot. We still love you Dawn! JAY PODIUMED and so did JAMES!!! They rocked the Sport course, and actually looked like they had some fun out there, to boot!
Desi, Stakk, Roger and I schlepped out on to the course for feed duties, and that seemed to work well. Everyone was watered up, gu'd up, and rollin' deep.
In the race for "Worst Day Ever" Kentucky Jeff edged out Colorado Roff! Jim had a crash and a resulting shoulder injury-to-dnf at the Mtn States Cup. Jeff, however, bested Jim by bending his wheel, flatting, crashing in a creek, separating his shoulder, dnf'ing...and.....his damn tick-bag of a dog bit someone! YOU WIN JEFF!
In other team news, Bev M. climbed about a frikkin' billion miles last month on her road bike. That's all for now, kids, hope to see you all soon. thanks to Roger, Desi, Ara, and Stakk for helping last weekend, and to Jim and Jeff's families, who will have to listen to them piss and moan for the next two weeks! :)

Chris