Massanutten BX

It was not the best weekend for racing - it rained all day Saturday, poured for a while, it poured overnight then eventually dried out Sunday morning and turned windy. All the rain made the course conditions...interesting. Saturday wasn't too bad but Sunday it was a sheet of ice. Overall Whitney said it was worth it to come home - it was good to race at Massanutten again, great to see her old coaches and friends on the team, and she had two good days racing.

Saturday SBX 1 & 2
I actually saw the sun peek over the hills at our house Saturday morning but it didn't last long. The rains moved in quickly but they got the races started. This was a combined Appalachian Series/Southeast Series race and things did not run as smoothly as they usually do. There seemed to be a lot of chaos at the start gate, which is unusual. There were a over 100 racers and with things not running well it made for a very long day. Standing around in the rain, which was pouring down a few times, didn't make it any better. I'd so much rather bundle up and stand in 10* weather than the pouring rain we had on Saturday.

Whitney's racing went well. She was grouped with a jams woman, a youth woman, and an adaptive man. She was by far the best rider in the group and won both races easily.

Sunday SBX 3 & 4
It rained pretty hard overnight and was also warm so the course was a mess Sunday morning. They weren't sure if they'd be able to hold the race but were going to do everything they could to get it rolling. The course (and all the other slopes) were pretty much a sheet of ice and they had a hard time getting the cats up onto the course to groom it. After waiting a bit they were able to groom the course and get things started not too late.

Because of the rain quite a few racers didn't come back for day two. With fewer racers and a change in how the races were run (instead of the usual two races per heat (unless there were more than four racers) they ran "one and done") the day went much faster. It also helped that by the time they started the rain had mostly moved out although the wind was blowing pretty good.

Whitney had talked to Ellen about grouping her differently if she could for Sunday's races so that she'd be pushed. She had no competition on Saturday unfortunately. With racers not coming back she was put with two Open Class men and a jams man, good competition for her. In both races she finished third and in the second race she was only about a board and a half behind the top two finishers. Nice job!

It was fun, as always watching her race at Massanutten. Her dad was a course judge and had a good place to watch about halfway down the course. I drove up and found a good place to watch both days near the top. She had her own cheering section both days. On Saturday two friends of hers that go to JMU came to watch (yay for friends who come cheer in the rain) and on Sunday her sister and a friend of hers came up and four other friends came down to watch. Another friend who lives on the mountain came for a bit on Saturday and again on Sunday to take pictures of her racing. He's a really good photographer and I can't wait to see his pictures.

We came home last night, gear is drying, and shortly it's time to pack then it's off the airport for the flight back to Maine and more racing this week. She's got the NorAm/Hole Shot races Wednesday and Thursday then USASA Maine Mountain races over the weekend.