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5/16/08 - 5/18/08 What an awesome weekend!!! Friends, fun and lots of riding!!! Got there early Friday morning and grabbed some grub at Ellen's Pancake House with friends then headed over to the venue to register and get dressed for DS practice. We put up the canopy at the bottom of the DS course and set up shop. Met up with friends Bob Burnes and Troy D'elia and got in some good practice runs. Ate some lunch and then headed out with my husband Roger for a few DH runs (no I didn't race DH this weekend). It was really hot, so I cut out after 2 runs. Changed pedals and number plates from the DH bike to the DS bike and then headed back over to the DS course for some additional practice and then qualifying. I ended up qualifying 3rd out of 6. Kayla, a 15 year old bmx racer since age 7 got the #1 spot and Joy got the #2 spot. 
Went to Gino's after practice for pasta with friends. Then off to the hotel to register. Then went down to the pool and jacuzzi and hung out for a while. It was nice to chill and cool off after being in the heat all day. We did cannon balls, synchronized swiming and basically acted like fools. It was relaxing.
Saturday we got to sleep in since Roger's DH practice wasn't until 10:30. We went to Mother Hubbards for some good chow and then headed to the venue. Had to park in the south 40 since we didn't get there until 8am. Found a spot in the shade near the end of the DH course and proceeded to watch DH practice. Did some heckling and waited for the races to start. Ended up moving up the hill as the shade kept moving and then cheered on the DH racers. Got some pictures, did some more heckling, and tried to stay cool. I swear it was at least 30 deg. cooler in the shade. It had to be at least 100 (the news said they were having record high's and normal temps were usually in the 80s for this time of year). Roger ended up 3rd in his class. Troy ended up 7th. Bobby 3rd in his class, Justin 3rd in his, Alex 7th, Hunter 2nd. Ok, so off to DS practice and then the finals. The course was great during practice because they had watered it down. I had one run that was so fast (for me) that I actually manualed part of the rhythm section. Doug and Roger tried to get me to jump the table top and I tried and finally got it once but was pedaling faster than I was comfortable with.
Then came the finals. I got 2 byes because the person I was supposed to race got hurt during practice so 1st, 2nd and 3rd qualifiers all got byes. I then raced Joy and she beat me both rounds by less than 1 100th of a second. On a 27 second course, how many pedal strokes is that? I ended up 3rd overall and was happy with my performance. I know better now what skills I need to work on......Troy ended up 1st in Jr. Ex and Jonathan ended up 1st in Expert 19-29. 
The Pros were waiting to practice so we had a lot of spectators and cheering. It's so much more fun and encouraging when you have lots of people watching your entire race and cheering you on. Getting a "good job" and thumbs up from the likes of Rich Houseman, Leigh Donovan and Melissa Buehl really make you feel good about your racing efforts!!! 
Then we got to watch the Pro/Semi-pro DS race which was quite entertaining. Oh, I forgot to mention, my mentor, Leigh Donovan has come out of retirement and raced DS getting 2nd behind Melissa Buehl. 
And a big "Thank you" goes out to all my sponsors, I couldn't do it without you!!
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