Nothing but excuses

 
Deer Valley Pedalfest, 2008. Some of these are better than others, but they're all excuses. 

• Three weeks off the bike


• One week riding too hard trying to recover lost fitness


• A bad case of food poisoning, possibly salmonella


• Four weeks since last race


• Snowfall the night before,


• But not enough to necessitate my mud tires, which I mounted up anyway


• Downhill chock full of 180 degree switchbacks that I’m too big to flow through


• Shortened race course


• Temperatures in the 30's

I felt flat from the start, like I was going backwards on the descents.  I found myself wishing it was over before finishing the first lap.  Just look at the desperation in my eyes…

I did hold off a surging Brandon Firth in a sprint to the line to hold onto a whopping 13th place.  Hey, 13th out of 20 isn’t too bad.  Last year I was 22nd out of 27.  After the race Ryan and I burned a lap on the Glenwild loop, which was a lot more fun than the race.  Drier too.  Almost as much fun as my ride to the park for a Sunday barbecue...