Subaru Cup 7th! Cross Country

Had a great race. Took the lead out for a while, had a gap and thought should I go with it? Decided not to risk a blow up and just rode steady till the rest of the break caught up. Glad I did cause I was hurting a bit when TJ, Jesse, Marko, and Mikey came around. Tried to hold the wheels of that group once we hit the Climb from bottom to top of Nordic Mountain Ski Hill, didn't happen and I settled into 5th with Paul Hanson and Ron Stawicki as the chase group. Paul went hard on lap two up the start climb and then came back and was gone for a while, Chris Pearsio went by and another guy from Iowa I didn't know. Then Mikey came into view, rode with him for a bit but he was hurting, so I went on with Ron and Paul Hanson as he latched back on. Ron and I had a gap on lap 3 and we were trading places for a while and all the sudden he flatted in a wide open flat section, it was really weird, nothing around to flat on, later he said his valve tore??? , weird. Paul and I got a pretty good gap after this, but the time to the next guys up was aways off. So we knew it was just us as we went into the last lap. We both rode pretty casually, talked a bit, he said he still had a kick left in him and I told him to go for it if he had it and I would try to hang on. He attacked on the last climb to the top of the hill, I tried to respond, it hurt and I thought it would be smart to not go overboard. I need to teach my body and mind to be more committed, especially on those last laps, cause I think I could have dug deep to hold the wheel, but I settled for maybe catching him on the downhill. I almost did, but too little too late. He rode away pretty strong through the last few climbs anyways, which I could not respond too. Two in a row he gets me at the end, I gotta work on that last lap stuff, GREAT work Paul.

Lindsay Rocked a 9th overall (13th including Pros) and 7th in age group, even though she felt the WORST she EVER has in a race. Sinus infection/antibiotics probably has a bit to do with that. Plus she was on my old bike I built up this week because her bikes rear shock had to be sent into fox for repairs, so new bike, she rode for first time today, thats a hard tail is kinda rough, literally...

Kyle looked crazy strong and pulled off a 13th overall in comp and 2nd in his age group! His fitness is really coming around.

Hannah looked really strong about mid pack the first two laps of her debut sport race after not riding a bike for 2 years, but lap 3 was a sufferfest. She said going into the last lap 3 she did not know how she was going to ever be able to even finish the lap. She finished though, and I believe she was not last place which is amazing for not riding AT ALL this year till today.

Tomorrow is Super D at 9:30 am, which is like a mix of cross country course and downhill, and Short Track Race at 12:30, or as TJ Woodruff calls it "The Hurricane of Pain". 25 minutes of a short loop + two laps, sounds fast.


Asa had a race today too, only pics we got from the day so far.


She had a rough start and had a little crash, ( the kid next to her is obviously smiling because of his devious plan to take her out off the line).


She finished strong though, medaled, and got into the cliff bar payouts.



Then of course there is the Best Fan of the Day Award!



Thanks for reading,
Nathan