Show Me the Money

Yesterday was fun.

I had a good race. I was smooth as ice. No crashes and not too many falls. I even made it through the sand pit a few times.

I didn't place too well but I had fun. There were 3 of us duking it out. Egging each other on and trading places and racing. And that's all I need to have a good race - people to race against and to have fun with.

At the start, Karla said to me make sure you have fun. And so I did.

And then I won a Sycip frame in the raffle.

They told me as I was racing. Everyone told me all along the course. All the kids told me, teammates (old and new) told me, friends and acquaintances told me and of course the announcer announced it a few times. He even pronounced my last name correctly. And that in itself is a feat.

It was confusing at first. So all I could do was smile and nod as I raced around. And then it made sense when I went through the start/finish and I could hear the announcer better.

And then it sunk in even more at the run up, so I took a beer feed in celebration. And I tried to grab some money a few times. And I asked who was smoking the pot? It sure smelled like pot!
Ah yes, that's cross.

And when I finished I went over and met the Sycip guys. Who are super, duper nice. I'd wondered why the Sycip tent was there when we first showed up. Usually at cross races I notice the Sycip racer guys kind of spread out amongst all the tents.

But there the tent was. And there the brothers were - Jay and Jeremy, such nice guys. And such nice sponsors.

I'm excited. They said they'd make me any kind of frame I want and paint it any color. Maybe I should get an orange cross frame to match my new Team Oakland kit next year.

It was a good weekend. A lot to be thankful for. And thankfully, it all overshadowed the news I'd gotten earlier last week - that I'd been laid off, just two days after making the trek overseas and two days before Thanksgiving.

So for a little while, until I find something fun again, I'll have lots of time to ride. And thankfully there's still two months of cross racing to do to keep me occupied.