Nat's...

and not the bug! Mountain Bike national championships in Mount Snow Vermont was a force to be reckoned with. The rain seems to be haunting me everywhere I go. Or as some might say..."I am a gluten for punishment"

I got there wednesday morning and headed out for quite the delightful pre-ride. I felt great and the weather was nice and the course was all totally rideable and fun. Andy our awesome team mechanic fixed up the ol' riddin' machine. It seemed that the weekend was going to be great! That was until the clouds darkened and the rain came...and came...and once again came. It basically rained every day and every night up until race day on Friday.

Pre-riding the course on thursday was not so bad and most of it was still ridable but a bit sloppy, but it continued all through the night, to leave us with the toughest course of the year! But that is what nat's are all about right?

The start was good up the fire road, but it all changed instantely as soon as we headed into the woods. I almost feel like I did more running on this course than actually riding. The second ascent consisted of about a mile long run up hill through the woods in ankle deep mud...Oh what fun! I hate, I mean I love running. The task of the race quickly went from trying to do well, to trying to survive and just finish in one piece, which fortunatley I was able to do. It was great to see a change in throne, with Mary taking over the Nat's champion jersey from Georgia.

Short track was a quite a bit better than the XC race. For instance it was dry! But it was also fast as hell! I had a great start and felt good until I dumbly looked at the clock to see that only 5 minutes had gone by. But i hung in there for a bit longer, only to be greeted by USADA when I was pulled from the race. Fortunately I was an alternate and at the conclusion of the race I was released from there custody!

Overall, it was a fun weekend. I would of liked to of done better, but oh well! It's a learning year and I will tell you I have already learned a heck of alot!