I'm finishing the semester in the next few days and taking finals on Monday. I can turn in one on Monday, not instead of on Wednesday so I can travel to Angel Fire sooner. I'm still looking for a ride either from SB/LA or from ABQ if I fly or take a train. If anyone has some room for me, my bike and 2 bags, please let me know. I'll pay for some gas and some of the hotel (floor space is all I need).

I'm now back in Santa Barbara, at school...

I ended up getting my seat/post at the hotel on Friday morning. It was only like $20 to send overnight with fedex, so my dad shipped it and I got it the next morning. I shot the rest of the weekend until my camera started to screw up on Saturday... the shutter would click like 10 times when I clicked the button once. Saturday morning, I ended up using my mobile phone to shoot pro practice until the battery died after 20 minutes. I got some decent shots that afternoon with my slr, just playing with it, and trying to get to work, which was almost half the time. By Sunday, I figured out a work around.... shoot once, turn off, turn on to chimp the last shot or shoot another.

I raced Cat 2 and did okay. I got 7th with a time of 3:14. I was actually on the hot seat for like five minutes, until I saw times like 3:11, 3:03, 3:01... I swapped the hell out on a straight section before a right turn with roots and was slow in the twisty stuff in the middle of the course. I was faster in that in most of my practice runs. It had rained a lot the night before, which made the whole course different. I was kind of liking the wet course by my second practice run before the race, but I guess I needed a few more runs to figure it out. Overall, it was a really fun weekend and I met some awesome people.

The Ridemonkey Thread: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218101
The gallery: http://gallery.pbmedia.us/p559459493

I flew up to Seattle and Mark of Bones Over Metal picked me up. When I was waiting for him, I realized I left my seat in the stand at home... Luckily, it was only $20 to overnight, so my dad shipped it and it should be here today. I built up my bike and practiced my course. It's fast and hardpacked with some loamy/off camber/tight stuff toward the bottom. Then we ate mexican food and went back to the Super 8 where we are staying.

I'm about to go practice until 2, and then I'll shoot pro/cat1 practice. It looks like it could rain tomorrow. Wunderground says a 50% chance for tomorrow and 70% for Sunday. I do want some light rain to make things tacky, but I don't really want a river.

Photos are up! I was waiting for the results to go up so I could keyword them better, with names... but they still aren't up. I was told sunday night, but it's now Tuesday and they have pages and pages of XC results up, but still no DH or DS results. Here's the gallery: http://gallery.pbmedia.us/p707011988.

This past weekend I was at the Stump Grinder Dirt Club for the Kenda Cup race. I got first in downhill and third in slalom on Saturday. On Sunday, I shot Cat 1 and Pro DH practice and finals. Now, i'm back at school... trying to get things done before I leave for Pro Gravity Tour #1 at Port Angeles, WA. I'll get the photos up tonight when I get home!