Missouri State Championship Race

I know. I don't live in Missouri. That only would prevent me from winning the coveted state championship jersey though. I could still win first place and all the money and wine that goes with it. Right?

Wrong. I took second. I led the race for the first couple of laps but after making a few mistakes and crashing hard a couple of times I lost the lead. The win was well deserved by the DRJ rider (good job Chris P) who took home the championship. The good news for me was that my second place finish netted me a $40 payday and a nice bottle of wine from the Hermannhof Winery.

I got off to a good start and knew I had to go into the hardest part of the course in the lead. This off camber turn (a turn on the side of a hill) was by far the trickiest part on the course. This is my first time through and I was able to make it through without crashing. On the third lap I wrecked though and got passed by the eventual winner.



Here is the infamous stair climb. I hate it. I'm so slow running up it that it's not even funnny.



Just kidding about hating the stairs. They're a great part of the course. In fact, had there been another lap the third place finisher, Casey Saunders from my team (Dogfish), probably would have caught me. He was flying around the course the last couple of laps while I seemed to be floundering.

Anyway, the course was awesome. Kudos to Jeff Yielding and Dogfish for putting on such a great race. Hermann is truly turning into a great race town. I look forward to heading back there many more times to come.

What do you think about the blue gloves? Stylish, I know. But really, it was cold and these glove were perfect for the conditions.

Friday I will be off to Kansas City for the National Championships. I'm hoping to score a top 25 (out of 100 or so riders) this year. I'll keep you posted.