SheVegas

Skipped town and went up to Sheboygan to ride the "race course". There was a nice gathering of several of the Fat Kats along with a few others. After deciding what was appropriate attire to wear in order to be warm enough, we set out. I had expressed concern to Bill that I was the only girl, and I knew I'd be slower than the rest. He figured we'd be safe, being that we didn't know the race course and came up specifically for the ride. Yeah, right.

Off we went. I managed to fall a few bike lengths back early on while I learned how to ride single track again, and missed a turn that everyone else took. That was it for me. Didn't see them again. I figured "oh well". I'd just see if I could find these arrows I was told about and figure it out for myself. But I didn't have to. Along came THIS GUY to save the day. My own personal tour guide. A little ways down the trail we picked up the captain, who dropped off the group because he didn't see me and didn't want me to be stranded. How nice. :-)

So the 3 of us rode the lap together, while Captain and I made mental notes to make sure we could retrace our steps alone. The course is vastly different, in my opinion. Many places FEEL the same, but are different. Several of the sections are backwards, and it took till about the 2nd or 3rd time through to really know where I was. But it was GREAT fun.

I eyed up the jump on the first lap, but didn't go into it right, double clutched and took the "easy" way out. But lap #2 and 3 I didn't even hesitate. Rode right down the hill and JUMPED. That's one thing this year has brought me. . . . .courage. I'm much LESS afraid to try things than ever before. I think that's a "perk" of having your skills develop. I know I can ride a lot of things that are even a little scary to look at. . . . . .so why be nervous? I just gotta DO IT.

The equalizer is in excellent shape right now. We only rode that side once, so we could concentrate on making sure we knew the course layout, and that one time I didn't give it my "all". But Captain sailed right past me and crested the puppy like it was a little bunny hill. Sweet.

Can't wait to get back there this weekend and ride. It's one of my favorite places. With all the changes, it will be interesting to see how this years race goes. My LAST race as a Sport competitor. Sad, but exciting at the same time.