After about 6 hours of driving, we reached a mountain pass just east of Tehachapi and the Highway was closed. It had snowed in the higher elevations causing them to close the road and keep us all sitting and waiting on or next to the highway. We pulled over onto a frontage road and waited, hoping they would re-open the road. About 2 hours later, they did and we were allowed to drive over the mountains and through the pass.
It was a strange mix of snow and lush green mountainsides.
Saturday we registered and practiced the DH course. Shuttles were good. The course was fun and tricky in some sections. Up top it was loose and jagged rocks. Some off camber rock sections. Ledges with no where to go but down on one side. Gee and Dan were practicing at the same time and Gee took a nice tumble over the bars and onto the rocks. My best run down was following those two... not at all keeping up, but knowing they had stopped and were looking at the course, watching us ride by. I never flowed it so smoothly. If only I could have used that as my race run.
On Sunday, Khaner and Keith would be racing the same division in spite of the fact that they are over 3 years apart. Khaner is 14. Keith, 17. The division, Junior Expert 18 and under.
Keith had a solid run and finished 3rd in 18 and under Cat 1.
There were over 50 riders in 18 and under Cat 1, so for points they split the group into 15-16 and 17-18. With this split, Khaner ended up 5th in 15-16 Cat 1.
I had a good run and stayed on course and on the bike. The top section felt reasonably fast, but down low in the rollers I lost my flow and had to brake coming into a crucial speed section.
They usually have separate divisions for 30-34 and 35-39, but here they had them grouped together into 30-39. A 30 yr old dude won my division, but as he was crossing the finish line, he took a bounce that threw him into a ladder bridge on the side of the course, snapping his humerus. I ended up with my humerus intact, and 10th in 30-39 Cat 1.
The temperatures turned chilly as the sun set and the awards ceremony become more elusive.
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