A little MooJo

I wasn't having the best of luck this weekend so I added some "moojo" to my bike. That didn't help either. Joel was the only one of us that cracked the top 20 (18th) in the rain soaked night TT of Friday. It was slick and I was just too cautious I guess.

Saturday was the XC. I had a great start, leading into the singletrack. I know I'm not as fast as many of the guys in our category so I wanted to be in front in the tight twisty stuff. That way I could keep everyone in check and race my race. All was going to plan and when I went to shift to the middle ring and it didn't drop down I recovered quick enough to still be sitting in 6 or 7th place. I was still in the pace line. We were moving pretty good when I hit a huge muddy/standing water soup of a mess. I got on the throttle a little too early and washed the back end out. Down I went. There was some horrible creaking noise. I tried to get back into the race but my handlebars were askew. Heh. That's what that horrible creaking noise was. After a quick fix I was back on. I had lost some time but I felt pretty good so I went to catch back up. I hit the redline and pushed beyond it. I did manage to make contact with the group only to completely explode when I did. I was fried. The rest of the race was for pride. 13th. I guess it could've been worse. Joel had his first DNF ever (I believe).

His race was a bit different though. He was in the same pace line I was in and when I went down he kept motorin'. When I got rolling again I passed him. His chain broke and he was fixing it. Unfortunately, his chain tool was broken as well so he ran. He ran so far away. Oh but wait. Somewhere along the way there was a snake involved. It almost bit him or something.

Thomas the Tank cracked the top 10. Mr. Consistent rode his race (as always). I think it's impossible for him to make mistakes. He was on a new bike (third ride) and it didn't even phase him.

But Shawn was the star on Saturday. Seven minutes back of the winner (TJ Mosher) in 4th. One of these races we will get to actually step on the podium. The competition this season is incredible. No one is really faster than the other. It comes down to who is having the cleanest race.

Sunday was the Hill Climb and Short Track. I was 20th overall in both (that includes the pro/semi-pro guys). I was pleased but if I would've had a cleaner race the day before I would've had more energy on Sunday. Joel was 15th (if I remember correctly) in the short track. He said that was because he DNF'd the XC and had more energy. Haha. Good strategy Joel.

The podium didn't have too many people flying their team colors. I attribute this to stench. It was a weekend festival and jerseys and shorts were pretty nasty by the time awards were handed out. Sorry sponsors.