Wed. was the "last chance" Rads ride and Thur. was the "first chance" Rads race. No better way to start the new year than by riding your bike with your bros, especially in your home town. An 11am meet up time at the Pit and the group was off for the hike up the fist hill. The race was consisting of 2 DH runs down 2 different trails. The first trail was fun and technical. A few steep sections, one drop, a couple of wood bridges, an uphill section of about 15 seconds and a starting point that made us pedal for a good 45 seconds before getting to the fun stuff. I had a good run until I hit one of the wood bridges which was wet and got shot off into the bushes. I didn't crash, but definitely lost probably 5 seconds but being a fun local race there isn't a lot of comp for me. Joe Lawwill is the fastest guy and in that run he took a wrong turn which cost him a lot of time.
The second run was down the infamous "stair steps" which I use to practice on when I was racing DH full time. It is pretty short, but rough and can bit you very easily. It has been some time since I pinned it down this trail and even then it was on a DH bike and not an all mt. bike. Good thing we hiked up the trail so I had a chance to get familiar again with this trail and it helped as I had a great run. Pretty much no mistakes and only a little cautious in a couple sections, but with a 1:34 I was still about 15 seconds faster than second place.
All in all a good, fun day of riding and racing, followed by some beer and tacos made at the fire pit. Hope everyone had a great start to the new years like it did. On my bike, going fast, with my friends, and having the time of my life. Here's to 2009!