Below my comments I have attached the email from Parks talking about how well Danny and he did at cross nationals. Now that I have two boys of my own I am starting to understand how cool it is that Parks pulls the trigger on a cross bike, wondering if Danny is going to like cross or even do it at all, only to find that the first race out Danny wips his old pops rear, a few short months later they are heading to Nationals. I can only immagine how cool it is to share something you are passionate about with your kids. Good job to both of you.
Now on to the good stuff. I have been considering the Excruciation Exam around the austin area for training recently but I am not totally pumped about the driving, and the fact that a lot of the ride is on the road/dirt road so I have a proposal to throw out there. The Saturday after the new year I suggest this. Meet at the starbucks at the Katy trail and knox at 8:30. Ride to OCNP and do two laps. Ride from OCNP to Boulder and do two laps. Ride home. The big challenge is having someone with a car/signifigant other who is willing to drive a bit of aid in and around this for us. I would even offer my truck as a support vehicle for someone else to drive if that would be an enticing offer. So ponder this all and let me know what you all think.
On to the great things happening with the Parks family.
It was in the 20s in the morning and the course was frozen and fast, they allowed you to pre ride at 8a till 9a. by the time I rode on Thursday it was 2 inches of greasy sloppy mud. The tires we have been using just don't cut it in the mud. The tires the real guys were using were narrower but had sharper spikyer knobs. The course had a lot of off camber turns and the hill was a little bigger than Flag pole, the speeds were slower because of the mud and more nasty obsticals that nobody could ride. Our Flag pole course had more and tighter turns.
Danny raced Friday in about the same or worse mud. The winners all used two ( some had three) bikes that alternated each lap, while the mechanic power washed the mud out of the gears and brakes, then switched bikes the next lap. Danny's race was 30 mins, but if it had been any longer the bike would not have made it. It only had one working gear for the sprint. Danny did great, the mud didn't bother him and he was passing guys all the way to the end.
