Taylor's Update

Phew! The long CalState/NMBS weekend has finally come to a conclusion, with medals all the way around! Before anything else though, I want to pass along a BIG thanks to Randy and Kim this weekend for putting up with all of us who attended the race, and being so hospitable. Also thanks again the Jim Wannamaker from Kenda for taking care of us as usual, and swapping out some tires for me.
My weekend started off with me slightly confused, as I attempted to enter just the CalState DH race that Donny was hosting... the NMBS was just a sideshow for me. As many of you know I have decided to focus a bit smaller this year, and skip Nationals in favor of the better organized Mountain States Cup, Northstar DH, and the CalState series. When I asked where "registration" was, a TBB employee showed me to the registration tent, where I promptly registered for my race, thinking the $65 entry fee was covering both races for the weekend, which was also the word from a few other racers I know. Unfortunately, I later found out that my $65 did NOT cover the CalState race, which was an additional $30 through Donny at Southridge. So basically, I wound up paying $95 to race an NMBS that I didn't want to enter in the first place, but I did get to race the CalState I had originally intended racing when I rolled into Fontucky on Thursday.
I took my NMBS DH run conservatively, and used it as a "fast practice run" to prepare for the CalState race I wanted to focus on. Staying quick but safe through the top rock sections, and not sprinting through the infamous "wall" all the way to the finish netted me a 20th place finish for the day, about 11 seconds off the pace of the fastest Semi-Pro.
My CalState run, I went for gold, and wound up with Bronze! I was still a little tired after taking practice runs, and my NMBS race run, but I still managed to put together a clean and quick race run and shaved 4 seconds off my previous NMBS time, securing a 3rd place finish(same course, 3 hours later) I finally feel redeemed after a mediocre Fontana Winter Series(8th overall), which I feared was setting the tone for my entire season! Looks like I have a fighting chance of securing a top spot in the CalState DH series this year, with hopefully more to come. Pictures are on their way, courtesy of Kim and King James!