I ride so I am to be found

After last weeks " State road race " which had a decisive climb that kept me from being in the hunt at the finish, so I was glad to bring the pendulum back the other way and entered the " Super D " mountain bike downhill race at Sundance ski resort. A unique style of racing that must have a finish line lower in elevation than the start. There's still climbing it's just closer to 50-50 climbing versus descending. With beautiful scenery and weather to watch over me I was the first out of the starting gate. It just so happens that the caterpillars are massively hanging in the trail until I cleared them all out with my face. As usual there was no time to test ride because the Ski lift opened at 8:30am and we started going off in one minute intervals at 9am ( me first ). I let gravity and flow mix and focused on control more than risk. It paid off.
This weekend coming up is the national championships at Deer Valley ski resort. Last time I raced this national I finished 7th in the XC and the " Super D ".I would like to do well and maybe get on the podium. My lower back continues to tingle, go numb and stab me with pain. Forcing me to pay attention to my form resulting in improved performance. Same thing happened to me in 1997 when I broke my collar bone and had to learn to pedal without my upper body resulting once again in better performance. It's funny how cycling turns lemons into lemonade!