Roger, myself and Justin headed out Saturday morning, stopped and got some grub, then headed to the venue. Got registered and on the course for practice by 9:00am. Parts of the course were new and it seemed a little longer than last year. Some new jumps and berms and a whole lotta fun!



The best part about Woodward is you start at the top, ride down, get on the shuttle and come back up. No hiking!!!! We got in about 15 + runs and had permanent smiles on our faces by the end of the day.



Sunday came quickly. We got up, had some Raisin Bran and bananas, then put our bikes in line for practice (yes I was the 1st in line). Checked the seed list and decided to keep practicing since the course was so fun. We actually got in 5 practice runs and then waited for the races to start. Watched the Pro and Semi-pro class go off, then got suited up and warmed up, then got in line.



My 1st run, my chain attempted to come out of the chainguide again (just like at Sea Otter) so I had to back pedal twice (losing me a few seconds) before it went back in. Otherwise the run, was good, I hit all my lines and was pleased. I ended up being only 2 seconds behind Roger, so my goal for my 2nd run was to see if I could actually beat him. This has only happened once before (Northstar) and normally I am at least 10 seconds behind him.

Had some lunch, fixed my chainguide, rode it around the parking lot, seemed much better. Ready for my 2nd run. Got in the starting gate repeating my mantra "Beat Roger, Beat Roger", had another good run, no chain problems, yeah!!!



Peeled off the gear, showered (thank goodness for late checkout and staying at the venue) got changed and headed out to wait for awards. Checked the finish times, 2nd run was 1.5 seconds faster than my 1st one. However my mantra caused Roger to ride faster too so his overall time was 3 seconds faster than mine. So, I know how to make him go faster too!

 To those of you who made it to Sea Otter this year, it was great to see everyone and congratulations to all who competed!!!!

After a 3 year hiatus, we decided (with no rain in the forecast) to make another sojourn to the Sea Otter. This year I have taken a liking to Dual Slalom so I borrowed a bike (Foes 4x) and off I went . To solidify my addiction I also signed up for the www.bikeskills.com DS clinic with Rich Houseman and Kurt Vories on Thursday. 

During the clinic, Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie showed up and I promptly introducted myself. They replied with "What can we help you with???". So I got tips from 4 pros and ended up qualifying 1st much to my surprise! I ended up with 2nd overall in a field of 6 women in the Expert Women class. My competitors ranged from 19 to 39. And to top it off, I got my picture on the front page of the local newspaper and was included in a slideshow with audio on the paper's website http://extras.montereyherald.com/slideshows/seaotter0418/index.html!!! I think this was the highlight of my 6 year racing career!!!

The downhill course seemed faster than ever and was very fun. I had chainguide issues in the last 1/3 of my run so my time was 3:19 which could have been better (however it was much faster than 2003 4:05 and 2004 4:03), but I brought home a winner's jersey and some great swag anyway.