Whitetanks

Congrats to all that raced last weekend. Many of the Schampa riders raced at Whitetanks, the second of the MBAA series, while others opted for the road and the McDowell circuit race. The weather in Phoenix was incredible and it was a welcomed change from the Flagstaff wintery conditions. The mountain course was in great condition and the team had a great showing from everyone (aside from yours truly). Jen ripped it up and got second in the women's pro field, while Grandpa shredded the men's pro category and pulled out fourth! Sawasky tore it up and scored a top ten finish and Keller and Powers also represented well for the squad. After the hardest climb on the course, four Schampa riders (Powers, Keller, Sawasky and myself) were all in a line and rollin' in solid position tryin' to keep Grandpa in sight. Just after the climb, we entered the tech section on the course and there I encountered the infamous rock drop. Before I knew it, my front wheel dropped off into an abyss and I thought to myself (as I had ample time in the air) "Oh damn, here's the drop! There's no way out of this and it's gonna be ugly. Didn't Sawasky mention that they usually take the race photos here. PERFECT. This is classic and they could give a clinic on what it looks like to go over the bars. After my body was slammed to the ground, I felt all the adrenaline leave my body and I became dizzy, sleepy, and I began shaking. NO GOOD. Some riders that were behind asked, "Damn Chief, are you alright? Holy Sh--!" I mumbled a "Yeah, go ahead," and I began collecting my water bottles that were ejected during the flight. I did a once over to check and ensure that I still had all of my body parts and I limped out the tech section and crawled with one hand on the bars back to the start-finish area, during which time I was passed by the many pros that we had dropped before the climb. Scott's mom, who always knows how to take care of you, hooked me up with some ice for my shoulder. After cheering a lap, I began the long, long drive home to Flag; demoralized by the wreck but determined that next time I'll keep the rubber side down and go like hell. Covergirl

#1 Curse

Have you ever been #2 and tried your butt off to be #1 only to achieve your goal and wish you were #2 again?

Well thats where I'm kinda at. I am glad that I won the state title last year, but this year I'm riding the #1 plate and I've had 2 really horrible races, matching my worst result of last year, not once, but twice! I can't remember the last time I've placed exactly 13th place in a state race consecutively. But thats ok, its only motivation to start riding more!

I rode to work today only to find that the rocks at red rock crossing were washed out, so I was knee deep in freezing cold water!

Anyhow, I have also been running my West Sedona Mountain BIke club quite successfully which is pretty awesome I must say. I had 7 kids race from 4th graders up to 8th graders and they did awesome! Check out my school MTB webiste for more details:

http://webpages.sedona.k12.az.us/~keller/?OpenItemURL=S00687686

Well the kids are runnin wild, better get back to work!

Holy Road Races

Even though I was feeling under the weather this weekend, I signed up for my first circuit race of the year and had a blast..No it wasn't dirt(I apologize to all of you Devoted Dirties). But DAMN it was fun. I ended up placing 13th out of a small field of 35. I made a few attacks and kept the pace high,which did drop quite a few of the others. I'm I would have a better result if I had paid attention to the lap count. Just as the pace picked up I latched onto the back of the pack and we were started really moving ... ...then they stopped?? I said "Hey, we just dropped the rest of those guys...Lets keep moving!" and one of the Procon guys said " UH....that was the sprint finish dude". HA! All in all, it was a great time and it was great to see all those roadies I havn't seen in nearly a year. Some already know me as "one of those guys"(meaning a Dirtie), and the rest of them will soon :)