Short Track #4

This weekend was a good one. Not only am I finally starting to get some speed and move up, but I had a chance to race/talk with Jeremiah Bishop.

First for the race, The temp was 73 and sunny (perfect. I felt ok for the start, but got better as the race progressed. After lagging towards the back for the first few laps, I finally started to pass some guys in the field. I worked up to 11th looking for 10th and feeling good. As the race got closer and closer to the end, I realized that 10th was too far ahead and the 12th place rider was on my wheel (we were together for 25 min). I knew that he was saving some energy for the last lap and I was losing some snap with 2 to go, but we stayed together with one to go and I tried to attack before the last run of the singletrack. I didn't create enough of a gapand we were back together on the trail coming out of the singletrack. He attacked hard for the last 500m or so and I had nothing left to challenge, so I wound up in 12th, but felt awesome that I have started to get speed back. (peak is not until June) Also, I didn't break anything today.

Next for Jeremiah, it was awesome to line up with an elite for a race. Although I didn't see much of him during the race it was still pretty cool. After the race I had the chance to get some pictures with him and talk to him for a few minutes. What an awesome guy! He gave me some posters for our youth cycling program and some souvenirs to bring home. He took time out for everyone it seemed, telling us "this is my job, it is the best job in the world." Jeremiah turned out to have pr skills just as good as his riding skills (that's saying alot!) He was just as motivating to talk to as he was to ride with and he is a definite asset to our sport. It was hard to believe that someone that rides for a living could be so passionate about it. He truly is a class act and could probably recruit just about everyone on earth to ride mountain bikes if he spent about 5 minutes with them. He definitely gave me some more motivation. Thanks Jeremiah! I'll be pulling for you!