I will start out by saying, this event ROCKS! I cannot say enough just how much fun I had with this.
When Jackie informed me that “I will” be racing in this event, I was nearly finished tearing pieces/parts off of “Beatdown Betty”, my well-used Specialized SX to finally lay her down to rest. It was then that the emails and phone calls from Jackie started. “There will be snacky foods and hot dudes there, plus it’s in your backyard.” How could I back down? “Ok, ok. You had me at “snacky foods.” I said and promptly left to place an emergency order at Pawling Cycle for a shorter set of crank arms.
Once all of the parts came in and were retrofitted to actually work together, everything was pretty much ready to go. Thursday I picked up Lisa Myklak from the airport and we made our way to Mountain Creek to see what this dual slalom course was going to look like.
Berm after berm after double after step up – wow! Had I not been registered, I would have cried. There was no way I would ever want to miss this! It was like they took everything that is awesome about the legendary Sea Otter slalom course and made it better! Eric Carter and crew had been working on it all week and they were just putting the finishing touches on it when we climbed up the course Thursday night. Friday was going to be a fun fun fun day!
As expected, the riding during Friday’s morning practice was a grin-fest. It turns out that thirteen ladies registered for the event, which meant that five of us wouldn’t make the final. Qualifying was going to take some work, and I had only started going to the BMX track a week prior…hmmm…things might not look so good for me.
My two qualifying runs went smoothly. On my way down I heard Larry Longo, one of the voices of the NMBS events announcing and giving props to Velo Bella, which was pretty cool. (On a side note, I had a chance to chat with him and found he’s a really cool guy who cares about the events from a racer’s standpoint. He can also be bribed with oatmeal cookies)
Well, apparently I haven’t lost all of my dual slalom know-how. I qualified 6th out of 8. Not fabulous, but considering the field, good enough to make the show on Saturday.
Saturday I matched up with Stephanie Nychka, who, although bobbled in the first run (I relaxed and should have taken advantage of it instead) made quick work of me and I was eliminated in the first round of eight. I ended up 6th overall which is something that I'm still extremely pleased with considering the field.
The next Jeep KOM event is in Park City September 21. I HIGHLY recommend that you check it out if you can. It’s a fun event, with bands, $10 haircuts from Paul Mitchell and stuff from http://www.freeridefoundation.com/ (check out bandana-rama) How can you possibly go wrong? Oh yeah, and it’s televised! Watch the first one on CBS Sports September 23rd!
Turns out I snapped the bolt off the bottom shock mount! YIKE
