Sherwood

Goods times at Sherwood Hills yesterday. The course was VERY soft and muddy when we arrived at 10am. However, it dried out enough to be damp, but not muddy by the time we raced. However, it was really soft and felt like riding on a pillow most of the time. I keep looking to see if my tire was flat or something. Even though it was slow going, I really liked the course and the temperature was perfect. Much better than the heat when we've raced at Sherwood in July in past years.

Tanner was a solid 2nd but didn't feel great. He just couldn't get going but hung in there for a good finish. We was about 25 minutes better than last year. I think much of his speed increase is due to the weight savings from his recent hair cut. It was like upgrading to carbon wheels.

I felt a little better than at 5-mile pass and put in 4 solid laps. My lap times were within 35 seconds of each other. The result was being in last after the 1st lap (there were only 5 in our classes, but 5 good racers) and 2nd at the finish. Bob put the hurt on for 3 laps again, but blew a bit so I could catch him on the last lap again. This is the 3rd race in a row for this. However, I think as he gets more fit and we get to courses with more climbing, my days of catching him late in the race maybe over. The race ended up being a lot of fun and very close. All 5 of us were within sight of each other during the last lap and finished within 3 minutes.

It is always interesting to me how the various types of cycling can be so different. Mark Skarphol raced with us Saturday and he is a super fast roadie. In fact, the few times I've been in road races with him, I've not been in the same time zone. However, I was fortunate to get by him at the start of the last lap Saturday and stay away. If he ever races MTB more frequently and figures out the pacing and the technical stuff better, he'll smoke me on dirt as well. Cross is the same way. I can occasionally beat guys in cross that destroy me on the road. In the end, I'm glad there's disciplines in cycling that are more technical in nature to make up with my lack of power and speed.


Starting out on the 3rd lap.
anner heading through one of the snowbanks.

Tanner heading out for his last lap.

Before.


After.





The best news of the week was Kim's heart is back ticking normally and he was able to get out on the lunch ride. I saw him for a few minutes and I've never seen him happier on the bike. Hopefully, things will stay normal for a while.

Lastly, we got to talk with Erin today. It was a great Mother's Day gift. She's doing well in Uruguay and will be home in less than 3 months. Hard to believe. We're very excited to have her home soon.