A part of putting off writing about my last two races is kind of because I don't really want to talk about them!  I'll start with the Zofka Ridge Cross Country in Hope BC 2 weeks ago.  You know when you're riding and things just don't click and for whatever reason you feel like a fish out of water and can't ride!  That was me at the Zofka Ridge Cross Country!  It started so well though!  I took off the start line in first place and had the holeshot....that is until the first corner about 15 feet away!  Mark took the opportunity to get the pass over with and I got back on track after over-shooting that first corner and fell in behind him.  I would have been content to follow, but then a lack of attention caused me to go down the wrong trail!  I soon realised my mistake, and pulled a quick doughnut to get facing the right way.  I executedthe "doughnut" maneuver right into an axle deep puddle and proceeded submerse over half my bike and body.  One minute in to the race...only 2 hours and 59 minutes to go!  I pulled back onto the course with a sputtering unhappy L.O.F.C. and prayed that it wouldn't rain so that my gear could dry off!  Shortly after, the down-pour began.  More rain in 3 hours at the Hope race site than they had seen in weeks!  The course was tough, the "A" loopput the trials riding skills to the test, and the "B" loop was quite challenging too.  Funny enough I rode the tougher "A" loop trails to perfection, barely dabbing a foot and keep good time, but when it came to the easier "B" loop trails, my brain refused to communicate with my body.  I found myself fumbling on sections of trails that I would normally have flown through, and as my frustration grew my riding skills seemed to go farther out the window!  I can't say enough good things about the course and how the race was organized and run though, the Fraser Valley Dirt Riders have never put on a race that was anything but professional, safe, fun and challenging.  There were some peaceful moments up high on the "A" loop that gave certain moments a surreal feeling.  Imagine being 1000's of feet above the valley looking through deep cedar forests when all of a sudden the clouds break and you catch a glimpse through the mist into Hope's grass fields dotted with farm houses down below.  I took in the picturesque view - thinking how great life was, I took in a deep breath of that high mountain mist.  Then it hit me....this isn't the coastal rainforest's mist rising...this is the remnants of several over-heatingdirt bikes!  The antifreeze fog burned my lungs and my eyes stung and watered blurring the farm houses of the valley into what would become a mere figment of my imagination.  I snapped out of my coma to realize I was still in a motorcycle race, and on I went.  After bumping up and down the gnarly trails typical of the Pacific Northwest the race drew to an end.  I treated Sean Deardon to a display of how NOT to go up a hill just before the end to finish the day off right.  "You were doing great until you went upside down"  I think were his words!  That's generally how it goes though...but thankfully my theatrics ended on that note and after a helping tug up the hill I finished the loop off.  We stayed for trophies (not that I was getting one with my mid-pack finish!) but it's hard to resist staying and visiting with the extended PNWMA family at these events.  After a lot of hard work by Jasmine and her gang, a very successful 50/50 draw boosted my ISDE support fund at the end of the event.  I'm forever grateful to the wonderful people who don't think twice about taking their time to help with my ISDE dreams for 2010.  Help also rolled in from other family friends at the event, the most heart warming probably being from who I refer to as my "dirt bike grandparents"  Al and Fran Norman!  Thank you to everyone for the help during the Zofka ridge race - Ken and Vera for the gas stop, Al, Fran and Reba! Jane and the gang, and the FVDRA for everything including a great weekend!

I'll finish off with a quick update from the last race before we head for the ISDE.  We raced in Castlegar last weekend, Steve's folks Kim and David were there to help as were my parents.  It was nice having them all there.  Steve didn't race due to a broken scafoid bone in his wrist (fell victim to Summerland's Stupid trail)  so it was just Malcolm and I racing.  Malcolm had the stomach flu and a gut cramp coupled him over causing him to crash and hit his head shortly into the first lap.  He was determined to make it through a lap to time out though so he did just as he said and pushed through to the end.  I did one lap and decided to time out as well due to some pulled ligaments/tendonitis in my clutch fingers.  It was a fun loop, but this close to the six days I'm paranoid about taking any extra chances, and putting more strain on those fingers would have been a bad choice.  I was upset about not doing the entire race, but it was still great to be with everyone and finally meet  Mike Kelly our Team Manager for the Six Days!  Look for updates from the six days on my blog once we hit Mexico on October 24th from Steve!  The count down is on, 10 days until take off!