theres always next year

so the last race of the season was coming up last week. this spring and summer had been a lot of fun and i had compiled 1011 points over 8 races in the MNSCS series. I hadn't gotten credit for the dnf at Afton. i had reported it but didn't get the credit. i left it alone thinking that it was 2 points that wouldn't matter. well anyway, with 1 race left it was me at 1011 points and Paul C in first at 1012. does it get any better that?

man was i excited. this is going to be great. i even got 2 sweet new tires when there was only 1 race left. Specialized Fast Traks S Works. i put them on and they squeeked on the garage floor like basketball shoes on the court. this had me pretty sure that the grip was going to be fun on the trail.

after messing around with them to get them seated correctly they were riding great. the rolling resistance was way down from the Kenda Blue Groove that was on the back. that was a great tire and i will probably use it for a mud tire but it was heavy and the big knobs were slow on the hardpack-straight aways and ski trails.

so i'm out on the bike path trying out the new tires. didn't have time to go out to the trails. just taking a quick 30 minute lap around the paved bike path, no big deal. until i went into a s-curve that was still wet from a little rain earlier. the curiosity and excitment to see how the new tires did on the corners overtook any part of my brain that may have had caution in it for the wet pavement. for that i was rewarded with a quick release of the tires hold on the pavement and a quicker meeting between my body and the pavement.

it was one of those wrecks that gave me the time to think, "wow, i'm sliding across the ground on my chest. glad i have my helmet on. wonder how my rain jacket is going to hold up to this." the rain jacket help up great. the bike did ok except for some scratching and a frayed rear derailer cable. the wrist didn't feel so great but not too bad. got back on the bike and rode.

a few minutes into it i was feeling silly but happy that there was no real damage to anything and that i would be racing in a matter of hours. got home and the wrist felt worse and started making plans to wrap it in the morning and just ride as best i could. within a few hours i couldn't make a fist, the swelling was up, and i was dealing with the fact that i couldn't race the last race of the season in the morning.

it is fun to be a part of a series. you can play and work toward building up points for the season overall while having little milestones along the way. but to be that close to the first place with one race to go and to go out with a silly mistake on a casual spin the night before hurts. this is like that Afton dnf times 10.

as Cubs fans say every year right about now, there's always next year.