This weekend was the collegiate regional race down in Missouri. There were only 4 of us Badgers going, the other two left at around 1 on Friday, but I had an exam, so Alex and I ended up leaving at like 6. The drive was surprisingly nice; Alex is a really cool kid. Plus he’s way faster than i am, so i had some questions about training and things, and he had some questions about mountain biking. Unfortunately my best advice was close your eyes and don't touch the brakes. Luckily he didn't take any of my advice during the race. I was really nice we didn't get lost once on the way down, but got there at 1:30. With a race the next morning at 9:30am, i sighed and figured that was pretty standard for UW cycling. We got there in the morning and it was cold. Now of course in my hastened packing, I brought shorts and a thin jersey. The first good news of the weekend came with sun, and it warmed up just fine before the race. I was really stupid this year in not buying my collegiate license until Thursday, and I realized a bit late that I was a B. I asked the officials to upgrade me at the race, but they didn't have any of it. And frankly, in their position, i would have done the same.
The race went off a few minutes late, which was fine, I was looking for every excuse for it to warm more, I was really cold. Going into the first corner I was 3rd wheel, and trying by all means not to go to hard from the start, as I have made a fool of myself a few times doing that. Having not ridden the course, I was also a bit hesitant to ride at the front, and lead the race off course, as funny as that would have been; I wasn’t going for that kind of first impression on collegiate MTB. However I was riding behind the leader for a few miles and just felt I could go faster, so on a climb, I did. I never saw them again until the finish line. I did in the process take a few small falls, and a hand full of wrong turns. The course was well marked, but I decided to run through the tape, instead of around it like I’m supposed to. The race was only two laps, which I had voted for 3, but was out voted. I was damn happy for 2 laps when about half way through lap two; I noticed the front end was stiffening up. This was either a broken headset, or a front flat tire, and king no-thread sets don't break, right? Turns out it was a slow leak flat which rode to the finish, but not without rolling the shit out of it into some trees, it was fun.
We decided it would be a good idea to get some food, and take a nap. I felt like I was in kindergarten, and it was good! We ended up over sleeping, I was ok with that, and we then went back to the park to ride the trails some more. We only got 2 laps in, but I had a blast, and there were a few falls too. Tyler took it into the creek, and got soaked, right in front of this kid and his dad. The kid freaked out, I wasn’t sure if it was because Tyler fell, or because it was Tyler. We finished up that lap, and Alex and I took a fast lap, I wanted to see what he could do, turns out he can kick my ass on the road, but I am much faster of the road. We went back the hotel, and passed out with a few beers and Wendy’s in our bellies.
On Sunday was the short track. The course was much better than I thought, after hearing it was in a field. I figured it would be like cyclocross, and turned out to be short, but one of the better short track courses I’ve ridden. I also won this race, proving to everyone that I should have been in A’s. I think my lap times were faster than the A, which is cool, because I might have short against some of the racers next year in collegiate and WORS. I think there is more, but I tried for now, may more will come to mind soon. And maybe I’ll buy a chair for my room too (that’s right, no chair, I’m sitting on the ground baby!).
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