As much as I wanted to race and tried to convince myself that my bone in my thumb has healed "enough", I didn't race. Another difficult decision but I need to be smart until I get more x-rays next week to see how she's doing.
So instead I headed to the Intermountain Cup race as support for Chris and anyone else that needed it in the feed zone. It was great to see everyone again as I haven't been to a local race since March.
I will tell you what though, seeing a race from the other side (as in the NOT the racing side) is crazy weird and pretty enlightening......man mtb racers are a hardy bunch I tell you. People are out there pushing their limits! To see people fall into the stream crossing, not even blink an eye, not yell or get sad, and then get up, jump on their bike and keep going was pretty cool. Determination by all! Then the passing.....wow. Some of the crazy passes that I saw that almost ended up in total disaster (but didn't!) was a sure sign of great biking handling skills and confidence. Hardy bunch of racers we have here in the valley. It was way cool to see it with my own eyes from my own perspective too.
As I watched from the feed zone, it was just even more of a confirmation of how crazy mtb racing is. How you push yourself TO THE LIMIT in these races. It's an individual time trial more or less and you could see it in peoples actions and comments as they road through. Some people were pushing themselves beyond max so much that they were convinced that they were somewhere else on the course. Others weren't even on the course, but instead paralleling it not realizing it until the last moment when cones cut them off, singlespeeders chasing each other, some racers panting so hard as they came through giving it all they had while others actually made it look easy as they road by. Some racers chose to stop and tell their own war stories and call it an evening while most just buried their head down trying to cross the line first.
It was pretty cool to see the race from this side of things. And it is something we should all do if given a chance. It really makes you step back and say WOW!
Warren W. pre- race; he had a very solid race and should be happy with his effort.
Chris S. Pre -race. Nice tennies!
Typical last minute pre race mayhem under the Revolution tent as Karl changes out a seat:
Ryan Keating getting after a nasty bottom bracket creak:
BZ killing it:
Shannon B. crosses the rapidly flowing stream:
Chris starts out strong in the lead!
Expert 19-29 men head out on their first lap:
Shannon B in the feed zone - calm, cool and collected.
Ok.....retrieving nasty, snot filled, muddy, dirty, slobbered on bottles is not all its cracked up to be. Gah-Roe-s
Only 5 minutes to go! Go Chris!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris likes to punish himself on the bike by racing and not training. Hmmm??? As if racing doesn't hurt enough when you ARE trained up.
It was great to see Darrell, our local CX goo-roo out and about:
Chris heading for the last corner of the night to cross the finish line:
Oh and the sights you get to see after a race. My oh my! I think I will stick to spinning it all out instead of hanging out.
Don't do it Bob!
Happy Heather.....or is it Oscar the Grouch?
Surprise Bobbay! Caught - cha!
Thumbs BZ showing off his home made glove thumb splint. The formula? One glove, two fingers from another glove, a pair of scissors, some mighty durable thread and needle, a piece of metal and a lot a patience.
Warren happy with his ride as he should be!
Nice work to everyone who raced. No matter where any and all of you finished....you are all amazing!! And I mean that! Way to get up, get out there and just DO IT. You all rock!
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