States

Phew! A long season finally over. PA states were a mess. Recent snow/rain/ice mixed with a slightly warmer temperature combined to make it an absolute mud fest. Running about 200 yards in 4 inches of the stuff, 3 barriers, 2 run ups, and a sand pit (ridable but clogged your brakes with sand). That equals a lot of running. Not my strong suit. I never did get my legs yesterday. I just kept losing ground to the leaders until I finally hit ice, went down, and called it quits. I only had one lap to go but I was done. Shawn did awesome. He took 9th and was the 5th PA rider to finish. Not bad. He even broke his helmet when his bike slammed his head on one of the run ups. It looks like the slop is where he shines. I knew he would do great because of the way he handles a bike. He's just technically sound. Great balance (usually haha!) too. Hats off to Shawn.

We had a nice crowd to race for too. Three other none cross team members (along with Katie, Roger, and a lady that I forget her name) were there in the muck cheering us on. It was really cool to hear those guys yelling for Shawn and myself eventhough I was going slower and slower every lap. Thanks guys.

I'm not sure exactly how many races I did this season but it was 9 months long. I had a blast but was definitely fatigued from Mid-October on. I didn't manage one decent finish after Iron Cross and that was with a concussion and a saddle that was stuck at about a 30 degree angle. Not comfy at all. I made a lot of new friends being my first year racing on the road. I learned that next season I have to be more prepared to finish the season as strong as I started.

It seems like we are really coming together as a team. Our roster is full. We will have a good road and 'cross team, and an awesome mountain team. I can't wait for next season. Our focus on the road will be to target specific races. Obviously, the ones we feel we can win or will get our sponsors names out the most. 'Cross our goals will be high finishes in MAC. Mountian will see us going for an overall team (under 10 riders) podium in the MASS. We will also be doing some other endurance races not on the MASS calander. Our two man downhill team will do what they can, when they can. They are free to do as they please since their participation is a bonus to the sponsors.