THANK YOU C3-SOLLAY!

Thanks you C3-Sollay for letting me be a part of your racing team. Now I have an excuse to paint my toenails blue. Too cool!

FALL IN OUR BACKYARD

It took about twenty takes to get this shot, but it was worth every annoying delayed click of the camera.

FLATS, COLLISIONS & PODIUMS

Last weekend Michael and I were able to get in a double header weekend with a little help from our friends Kat & Andy in Lancaster. Lancaster is about 1.5 hours closer to the venues so the let us stay at their place and we headed to the races together.

This photo above really captures the moment: Gilbert is working on Michael's wheel set, Kat is chill after our race, Lucy is scratching, Michael is looking into nowhere, and Andy is getting dressed. Too funny, I love it!

Saturday was a MAC race at an equestrian park...which meant a big long slog through the horse show area...five times! For a newbie that is a lot. Plus there were three other places per lap where you had to dismount the bike. Not many hills in this race so I knew I would have to dig deep. I started off about mid pack which is really good for me. There was a crash right in front of me within the first 400 years of the race, but I was luck to be just to the side of it. Some guy was yelling at his lady to "get up, get up" glad that wasn't me, I might have cried. Too sensitive! It took about two laps and I had put myself into second place behind my teammate Kristina. She was about 25 seconds ahead of me and held her position for the rest of the race. I was still pushing but mainly to make sure the girls behind me did catch back up. On the last lap I took my first fall while approaching the barriers on a turn. It was a fast body slam, followed by a quick jump back up on my feet. Michael witnessed it but was kind enough not to yell, "get up, get up". But in no time I crossed the finish line in second.

As for Michael he had a special race start as a result of using a new tubeless system on his wheels. On the first lap, right where I fell, the tube "burped" causing a flat. He lost his third place position and fell all the way to the back to the pack. But he got his second bike out of the pit, with a quick hand off from Kat, and started the chase. By then end of the race he had managed to get himself back with an eighth place finish. It is also my understanding that he got another flat, but Kat had it under control in the pit and already had his first bike up and ready to go. But Andy, stomach flu and all, started off in about fifth place and worked his ass of to take third place. Podium! He is not a believer in blog, so I will make him blog famous by posting his photo on the podium. That is him on the right.

Day two the four of us headed southwest of Baltimore for a MABRA series race in Rockburn Park. Kat and I took off to check out the course. I was pleased to find a series of hill on the backside and knew that this would be my place to attack. The Cat V ladies started 2.5 minutes after the Elite Women. My start was pretty sucky, but I was able to catch the lead ladies pretty quickly and as soon as we headed through the backside there were just three of us. I told them that the girls behind us were riding strong and that we needed to keep up the pace, but I think they ware at their max. So as soon as we hit the hills I put it into gear and took off out of fear of being caught. This put me into first place with four laps left to go. Which is something I am a little afraid of because I like to chase and now I was the one being chased. But I just kept going and by the last lap I know I was going to make it, so I rode smart making sure not to do anything stupid. I ended up coming across the finish line almost two minutes ahead of the second place girl! So it was top of the podium for me...and Gilbert. The other ladies insisted that he join in the fun.

Here is the official write-up for Michael's race from Bikereg.com: C3-Sollay.com teammates Mike Gallagher and Andy Wulfkuhle, wearing the team’s special Halloween edition “Karate Kids Fist of Death” skinsuits, tag-teamed Hunt Valley’s Galegher. C3’s Mike Gallagher was finally able to put in an attack that stuck, leaving Hunt Valley’s Galegher in a conundrum as he wanted to get back to the lead, but he didn’t want his adversary’s teammate, Wulfkuhle, to get a free ride. The Hunt Valley rider attacked Wulfkuhle out of the sand pit, starting a long chase by Wulfkuhle to come back. Meanwhile, Sundt was now up to fourth place and appeared to be closing. On the final, the top three all came back together before the C3-Sollay.com duo gapped Hunt Valley’s Sean Galegher. Heading into one of the final turns, C3’s Mike Gallagher ran into a lapped rider and crashed. Realizing his teammate Wulfkuhle was still in position to take the win, he yelled “Go! Go!” Wulfkuhle went, Gallagher recovered in time to preserve a 1-2 finish for the karate kids, and a totally spent Sean Galegher held on for third with a thirty second gap over Sundt.

WE DID IT!

I will admit that I shed a few tears when Obama was announced the Elected President of the United States of America. But I think I shed even more while listening to McCain's concession speech. It was awesome! If only he had been able to show this softer side of himself during the election I think he would have done better. Regardless I think that the people spoke and the best man won. Obama is a democrat, but he listens and makes decisions that are in the best interest to ALL, not just the democratic party. I have faith that he will make many positive changes for our country and as a result the world as a whole. Oh and spell check, you are going to have to add Obama to your dictionary, it's going to come up here and there...at least for eight more years! :)