I thought that next weekend would just be any other fun local downhill race weekend, that is until Jackie explained to me that I WILL be racing the dual slalom. ("Do it or I will kill you." is pretty persuasive) So now I'm preparing for the Jeep King of the Mountain event at Diablo Freeride Park in New Jersey, which means I must have my dual slalom bike "Beatdown Betty" back in working order. I ran to Pawling Cycle to place an emergency order for the stuff I needed in order put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and last night everything was finished.
Excited, I drove back home, dumped the dog, grabbed my gear and took off to the BMX track to get some laps in before dark. I arrived about twenty minutes later ready to go. Gloves? Check. Helmet? Alright, a choice of full-face or roadie. Check. Shoes? Shoes? Bueller, Bueller? Damn. So there I stood, full-face helmet on my head, gloves on my hands and flip-flops on my feet. I had two choices, ride carefully or ride like an idiot. I chose the latter.
Trading my full face for the roadie helmet I pulled my bike off the car and made my way to the track, accompanied by the sweet clicking of a Hope hub and the "smook-smack" of flip flops hitting my heels. I did get a few sideways "you dumb, dumb girl person, shouldn't you be home cooking someone's dinner" glances from the "rougher looking locals", but met a nice guy who advised me to count my piggies before and after each lap.
Although kind of unsettling, it wasn't really all that bad. I mean, I don't plan on making a habit of riding in sandals, but I was still able to jump and sprint. Not too bad, and a successful track night was in the books.
The moral of this story is: As silly as I looked and unprepared as I was, not riding because of something as lame as shoes was never an option. Riding is just that important!
