Tractor Pull

Wow, the heat races were like tractor pulls out there.  I don't have any good photos except for my teammate getting the hole-shot in the 40-44 but it was 2 laps of the heaviest riding I have ever done.  I was racing in the last of 3 heats for my age group at the end of the day.  The morning events were 2 hours behind because of course repair from the overnight heavy winds and rain.  The flight in was the roughest I have ever been on.  I was really unsure if we were even going to land without crashing.

Teammate Mark with the hole-shot in 40-44

I did not get the hole-shot but was 3rd into the first corner with the Canadian National Champ and a rider from Denmark.  Russell Stevenson rode from the 3rd row and won by a minute and I ended up 3rd right behind the Dane who was took 3 bike changes.  I stayed on the same bike so I would not have   to clean 2 bikes.  My 3rd should be good enough for a 1st row call up for the Final on Friday.

I did a clothing pre-wash in the yard of the host housing so clean up went pretty well.  The rest of the crew was out running errands so I went with the hosts to a celebratory event for Louisville hosting the elites.  The mayor and others responsible for the race coming were all there so I felt out of place.  They were even doing photos on the red carpet out front.

Out front on red carpet at the event bike shop

Yeah, I hate being a fan boy but how often can you get a photo with Mr. Nys.

Thursday is a break between races so I will probably just ride the trainer for an hour and call it good.  Friday should be completely different with frozen death ruts instead of mud.