Wow, what an exhausting weekend. I wasn't even able to ride and I was still beat at the end of each day. The sun was so intense it really took its toll on you.
I'll let Shay give you the full run down on her riding/racing but the brief of it is that after cleaning everything in practice DH runs the combination of exhaustion, adrenaline, and nerves resulted in her taking a spill in the Rock Garden on her race run leaving her winded and rather slow getting back on the bike.
Her knee got a bit banged up and she's got a bit of a limp at the moment but I think her pride was hurt more than anything else.
Oh well, we have 3 more races this season for her to prove herself. And me too since I should be cleared to ride by our next outing.
From a sales standpoint it was a pretty lousy weekend. Our booth just wasn't getting much traffic and we only sold a handful of T-Shirts and a couple of prints. Oh well, maybe next time.
We rolled in at around 4:30 this morning and managed to grab a few hours sleep before Shay had to head down to campus to head out to west texas for an observing run with the undergrads.

I've uploaded the photos to day 1 and the rest will be processed over night while I sleep so check back in the morning for all the day 2 and 3 photos.

In the meantime, here's one of Shay geting in a practice gate start during the free Mountain Cross clinic they had Friday afternoon.

When we arrived at Twin Parks saturday morning dark clouds floated ominously in the sky and the wind was blowing something fierce. Sitting atop the start gate strapping on my helmet I could see signs of rain not too far off. For the moment it didn't appear to be heading our way just yet. Still, even without the rain the wind was definitely something to consider.
High winds don't mix well with jumping and high speed turns. It was beyond my control though so I tightened down the helmet and took my first run down the course.
After a couple of runs down the course the Southern Devilz crew frin Dallas showed up including a few new people Ausetn ('MopNGlow') and Derrek(SnapperD). Aubrey (Lt. Dan) and Jeremiah (Scratch), and CrazyJim filled out the rest of the group. Most of the crew headed down to check out the Dirt Jump line and I went back to practicing the 4 Cross run.

Sometime during the late morning the wind died down and never picked back upand we never saw a drop of rain. The overcast skies and light breeze resulted in very pleasant race weather.

During one of my practice runs I lost a pedal going over the tabletop just before the rhythm section and wasn't able to get it back on. I tried my best to save it and I actually managed to ride a 1-footed manual through the first half but I couldn't hang on. During the crash I somehow managed to jam my thumb pretty bad but asside from that I only got a couple of abraisions on the shoulder.

Stephanie had finally started coming out to Twin Parks and showed up to race Downhill and 4 Cross. During one of her practice runs she was trying to clear the finish line step up and cased it pretty hard and twisted her ankle. Most of the guys that race the course don't even try and jump the step up so needless to say we were all very impressed and I bet she'll get it next time.

As it turned out only 3 people showed up to race downhill. Stephanie, Joel, and another guy whose name I didn't catch. During the first run Stephanie looked good in the first section and caught some pretty big air coming off the lip for the step down. Unfortunately it turned out to be too much for her ankle so she cut the run short and called it a day.
During the 2nd run was when the carnage began.
The first guy didn't have enough speed for the step up and cased the landing. Fortunately he was able to just roll to the side and came through unscathed. Joel however, wasn't so lucky. It looked like he had the speed for the stepup but somehow didn't get the lift. He plowed into the front side of the stepup and his momentum launched him off the bike up and over the stepup and he came down hard on his head and chest.
While we were all standing around Joel to make sure he was ok Austen loses control in the rhythm section on the 4X course and goes down hard in the berm. He gets up but is holding his shoulder and appears to be in pain (broken collarbone/separated shoulder).
During all this chaos Doug comes flying down the course and doesn't hear all the shouts of "Rider down". Austen is off the course but his bike is still there and Doug plows right into it and goes down hard. He's a bit banged up and the bike has a flat nothing too serious, it definitely could have been worse.
We help Austen get to the top and Jeremiah takes him to the hospital.

More practice ensues then it's time for 4X. With Scratch and Austen gone and Stephanie out the Novice field is pretty thin. For the guys its just me, Aubrey, and Jim. We decide to just do a total points series of 3 runs and the girls Kristen and Shay decide on a 4 race total points series.

I decide to start off in the lane I hate, lane 1. Out of the gate I get a clean start and have enough lead to muscle my way over so to take the lane 2 line. This puts me cleanly in first and I go on to win the first race with Jim coming in 2nd and Aubrey 3rd. Race 2 I'm in my favorite lane with Aubrey on the inside and Jim outside. I take 1st place again and this time Aubrey comes in 2nd with Jim pulling up 3rd. Fortunately for me this means that victory is mine and the race is for 2nd. Starting out in lane 3 my original plan is to squeeze out whoever is in lane 2 (in this case Aubrey) and take the inside line. We all get clean starts and going into the rollers its tight. I start to make my move but since i've already clenched the win and there's a good chance I might take us both down I back off at the last moment and drop in behind them. I try to make a move in the 2nd turn but I'm in the wrong gear. I decide I'm going to try and cut low on the 3rd turn and get inside and around Jim and Aubrey. Aubrey is also pretty low in the turn and I have to cut really hard to try and get inside him. I end up cutting abit to hard and my front wheel bites into the dirt high-siding me over the bike. I get back on and coast down. Jim barely edged out Aubrey and took 2nd.

After battling it out for 4 races Shay and Kristen were tied. They chose to switch between lanes 2 and 3 each time and whoever was in 2 ended up with the win. For the tie breaker they decided to do one more run with a coin toss deciding who got lane choice. Kristen won the toss and went with lane 2 and went on for the win. Shay was able to work her way over to the inside line for the first turn but then backed off out of fear of crashing into Kristen. I predict some great battles between Shay and Kristen in the future.

In the open class there were 4 riders (Jeremiah, Doug, Patrick, and Derrek) and they opted for a 3 race total points series. In the first race Jeremiah took first with Doug right on his tail. On the 2nd race coming out of the triple Doug was right on Jermiah's tail and went ot make his move but ended up rubbing Jeremiah's rear tire and went down. I'm still not sure how Derrek and Patrick managed to not get tangled up in the mess. In race 3 Doug took the win so the overall but it wasn't enough to dethrone Jeremiah.

The second race in the Hell Frozen Over series at Twin Parks this past Saturday was awesome. There wasn't anything particularly new and intriguing about it...as a matter of fact, fewer and fewer locals seem to attend (claims of weekend work and burn-out appear to be the cause). But the smaller field does have the benefit of providing the race with an aura of coziness -- a tight-knit family affair.
But there was a girl racing the downhill (the first in TP history, I believe -- correct me if I am wrong)!!! Stephanie (Bicycle Sports Shop, North) looked so freakin' awesome on the newly improved downhill course. Tight and fast, she definitely would have given the boys a run for their money. Unfortunately, in practice, she hurt her ankle badly while sessioning the end gap jump. The injury caught up with her, preventing a finish to her official downhill run. But we are so stoked!!! We'll definitely be on the lookout for her at the next race.
Shortly after Stephanie pulled out of the DH race, the only two other guys racing both severely cased the last gap jump, providing the audience with impressive and horrifyingly scary bicycle-moments-of-pain.
While this was all going on, the neighboring 4-cross course saw it's own blood. Austin, from Dallas, slid out on the rhythm section near the end of the course and broke not only his collarbone, but separated his shoulder as well. Just as Austin was gathering up his stunned body, Doug E. Fresh was barreling down the course and crashed head on into Austin's bike. Other than a flat, Doug E. came out fine.
Kit easily (let me stress how easily) took first in the Men's Amatuer 4-cross (damn that boy gets faster and faster), beating out Aubry (aka Lt. Dan from Rogue Posse) and Crazy Jim (Rogue Posse). I'll have to get back to you about the winners in the Men's open class (probably Jeremiah, but I wasn't watching). And finally, I got to race! Yes, my first race after the injury and let me tell you, it was a great race. K-dog gave me a run for my money and vice versa. We were tied after 4 runs down the hill and decided to go at it a 5th time. While I catapulted from the berm into the trees (unharmed), K-dog took the win.

This weekend was the first in a 3 series event Twin Parks dubbed Hell Frozen over. While it was nowhere near freezing it was a rather pleasant 85 or so, a huge break from the 100+ temps of the last race weekend appropriately dubbed Hotter than Hell.
Unfortunately the showing for this race was even lower than the last one and if it wasn't for the guys from Dallas driving down might have been a total wash. While there was still plenty of fun to be had it's definitely dissapointing to see interest wane just as they are finally startin to get oraganized. And with the new downhill course I was expecting there to be some good carnage. I really hope they can find a way to promote the races better and reach their true potential. For my part I'll continue to spread the word and try to get new people out there.
The downhill race was a serious dissapointment. As the only racer in the amateur division, Chad (Souther Devils, Dallas, Tx) won by default. The open class conisted of 2 of the 3 guys that built the new course, Patrick and Nevada with the win going to Patrick this time around.
With Shay still on injured reserve and Ammie and Janna not making an appearance K-Dog (Kristen) got to race with the guys. In the Ameteur class Kristen and I were the only local representation with Aubrey, Jeremiah (Scratch), Britt, and Chadd all racing for Southern Devilz out of Dallas.
I've been working on getting the course dialed in for some time now and was really looking forward to this race. During the qualifying runs Britt broke his chain coming out of the gate for the 2nd time today and decided not to continue dropping the racer count to 5. I was the next to the last rider going down for the qualifying run followed only by Kristen. I came out of the gate strong and continued on for a super clean run playing it safe rolling the step down instead of jumping it. I hit the bottom and check my time and I have the best time so far beating Chad's time by about 1.5 seconds. Kristen comes down next and after bobbling a bit on the high speed jump ends up with the 4th fastest time just behind Aubrey.
With the field down to 5 Aubrey and I automatically advance to the main, so all that's left to decide is who the other 2 are going to be. Chad lines up in gate 3, Kristen takes 2 and Scratch takes the inside line. Out of the gate it's tight but coming in to the rollers, Scratch goes airborne and starts to drift over a little and Kristen, intimidated by the size advantage slows down and gets squeezed out. After the 2nd turn we lose sight of them but we're all cheering for Kristen to pull it out. We hear a crash and given Scratch's inclination towards eating dirt I am fairly confident that Kristen might have made it afterall. A quick check on the 2-way confirms my hunch.
With the best time I get first lane choice and take line 2. Aubrey's on my inside, Chad is in lane 3 and Kristen is on the outside. I'm first out of the gate but not by much. I hit the first rollers hard and manual through them knowing that Aubrey and Chad are going to gap it. I commit solidly to my line and don't worry about Aubrey possibly drifting into me. Coming out of the rollers I have extended the lead some and attack the turn hard. By this point I can't see or hear anyone else and am confident my lead will hold as long as I don't wreck and don't let up too much. I attack the flat left turn hard and sail trhogu the high-speed jump. Hit the brakes for the right-hand berm and once again roll the step-down not taking any chances. I finish out the rest of the run cleanly and claim my first win.

Open class goes next. After setting a course record with a blistering qualifying run of 26.4 seconds, Jeremiah gets lane choice and goes on to win over Patrick Nevada and Paul.

After getting up early Saturday mornign to see Serenity followed by a bit of houe cleaning and a quick lunch we head out to Twin Parks for some more 4 Cross practice. I show up to discover that Nevada, Patrick, and James have been out there since 9 in the AM working on a new downhill course. The new course is quite a bit gnarlier and winning times should post closer to a minute as opposed to the low to mid 30's of the previous course. I scoped out the line and I think it's going to prove pretty challenging and will probably produce a bit of caranage in the upcomign race. Don't worry, it won't be feeding off of any of my blood because there's no way in hell I'm riding the new course without a true Donwhill or Freeride rig.
After scoping out the new line and talking with the crew a bit it was time to hit the 4 Cross course. A few easy runs to warm up and then I spent the rest of the day hitting it all out doing full runs every time. tried a few new techniques for the rollers after the first turn and managed to get the bottom rhythm section dialed in pretty good. I am also consistently clearing the last 2 table tops (actually I'm almost overshooting the landing ont he 2nd one). My last 2 runs of the day were about as close to perfect as I'm likely to get so I called it a day.
I've toyed with the idea of going ahead and stepping up to the open class but since I haven't actually raced yet on the new bike I'll probably go ahead and stick with Amateur for the upcoming series then cat up.

Sunday it was another trip to the BMX track. We barely made it out in time to sign up but I was still able to get in some practice gates. Saturday's ride had definitely taken its toll and my legs weren't feeling near as fresh as they had Wednesday night when I took 2nd place in the Cruiser class (of course this was made easier by Todd injuring himself in the 1st moto). Sunday races are a 3 Moto transfer so the 1st 2 races I just took it easy and was planning to make my go at it in the 3rd Moto. For the 3 Moto it was just me and one other rider who I had beaten before so I figured I had a pretty decent shot at making the Mains again. The gate drops and we both have great starts. Tearing down the start ramp we're neck and neck as we hit the first tabletop. Somethign goes awry though and my bike goes sideway in the air and my foot slides off the pedal. I come down at almost a 90 angle, my momentum pitching me sideways off the bike. I manage to push off with my left foot and gracefully roll down the backside of the table. I spring right up, turn around and see my bike sitting upside down on the tabletop (too bad no one had a video camera rolling). I head up to get my bike and indentify the culprit as my chain is hangly limpley from the rear derailer. Chain in hand I grab the bike and head off the course. At that point I notice my knees are a bit scraped up but it definitely could have been worse.

Today I'll swing by Todd's and get a new chain.