Chalk Creek Stampede Slalom Shot Of Jimbo!

This pic was taken of Jimbalaya at the Chalk Creek Stampede race in Colorado a couple of weeks ago. This was Jim's first slalom race, and although practice went well...his race runs did not. Crashing in both heats (but still almost catching his opponent), Jim was out in the first round. He will certainly be back, though, so watch for his race updates as the Mountain States Cup progresses.

Jim and Court attended the Chalk Creek Stampede race this weekend, part of the Mountain States Cup Series. Jim was frantically building his slalom bike with parts provided by Jay, and subsequently missed his practice time for the day. Saturday was XC day, so Court was up in the morning for three seven mile laps. The course was a mixture of sand and baby-heads, but was somehow faster than expected. Court's brand new Titus Titanium Racer-X performed expertly on such a diverse course. Floating over the terrain, Court managed to maintain fairly consistent lap times. Colorado is a tough place to race, especially when you smoke all the chronic that CO has to offer, and unfortunately Court's best still kept him at the rear of the pack upon finishing. They don't call it wacky-weed for nothing!
Jim had practice early before his race. Slalom is fast and crazy, so Jim wanted to own the gate at the start. His four practice runs were smokin' fast..but that's just practice. In his qualifier heat, he was a bit over-confident and BLASTED out of the gate. Hitting the first set of doubles at about 50 mph, he WAAAAAAAY overshot the landing, crashing into the second set of doubles and flipping over. He still managed to get up and NOT be the last qualifier. For his bracket heat, Jim was hoping to recoup his losses. He tore out again...WAY too fast...hit the burm, then the double...was ok..then slipped a pedal on landing and damn near tore his bean-bag from it's fleshy connection point on the stem. Yeah....lotsa fun. Race over, Jim and Court rolled home to re-attach Jim's Scrote and drool on the Titanium Racer-X with a frosty cold brew.
Oh, and did I also fail to mention that a storm blew in during Saturday's race? Yep, it went from 80 degrees and sunny to 30 degrees and hailing in a matter of minutes. Lightening bristled all over the mountain for a couple of hours, forcing the race organizers to make EVERYONE dive for cover in the large team trailers (Giant, Shimano, etc.). Now THAT makes for a fast lap when you are the guys left out on the course! My pacemaker always gets a little funky in lightening storms, makes me feel like I just ate a plate of fried cheesecake or somethin'....or maybe I did.