Short Track

Sunday was race number 4 in the short track series. I could still feel the punishment Leslie put on my legs from Saturday but no worries, I wasn't overly tired. Nate rode down with me and we planned on getting in 3 hours of riding for the day. We got down to the venue and the weather was good, 63 degrees and windy (glad we weren't road riding). Warm consisted of some riding around on the course, that was extremely fast for the day, to get a feel and put in some hot laps to get ready to race. The field was pretty big for the day, 15 or so for the expert class, with some good riders. We started off fast as always as we hit the woods. I felt good for the day and I was starting to shed some of my winter "slowness". After a few laps I passed Nate, he looked shaky, I learned later that his chain was coming apart and he hit a tree, it made a nice little bruise on his hip. My water bottle decided then that it was done riding aand hit the ground, a spectator gave it back and I felt good to go. I passed 5 people on the next few laps and was cruising, I went to take a drink and no stinking bottle, I started to lose a couple of places because I was in search mode for my bottle. Then I started losing a few more places because I was drying out, I looked for Nate but he jumped back onto the track. Then I saw my water hollering at my bottle from the start/finish line, (it must have hitched a ride), so I figured I would stop and pick it up even if it meant losing a few seconds. I got back up to speed but the damage had been done, I kept my spot but definitely fell of towards the end. Like Nate said its good that dumb things ahppen now, then during bigger races, I always want to win, but I've learned its not always in the cards and not always a #1 priority. We finished out the day by doing the entire loop out at the park. It was great training and even more fun, just one step closer to a great year.