USGP Jersey

Mark and myself left town around 6 on Friday night for the long haul to Jersey. 14.5 hours later we rolled into the rainy race venue. The first race of the day was already done and the CAT 2-3 race was going on when rolled in. The easiest way to describe the course was completely trashed after one race. The grass was just about non existent already and what was left was disappearing fast. My wish had come true, the first muddy race of year.

Riding a lap with Brian before the start of the women's race left us off the bike just as much as on it. It didn't pay to bash and chop wheels to make up 3 or 4 spots considering everyone was off the bike and running after the 2nd corner. The first muddy ditch on the course proved to be my undoing as I came out of it with the front tire leaking air fast. I ran the bike to the pits and grabbed a wheel from neutral support to start the chase. I barely got out of the pits when I realized my rear tire was going soft too. It took a lot of running and lost time to get back to the pits for another wheel. My race was cut short getting pulled with 2 laps to go.

After a decent nights sleep the 3 of us headed back to the venue to scope out the hopefully new course. After a quick look around we found the course unchanged with the exception of more mud. I did my best to mentally prepare for another long day of running through the quagmire. The bike held up better than expected in the mud and I managed to keep air in the tires. A few spectators were getting into it by cheering and sticking money in the mud through one of the worst sections of the course. It wasn't super fan worthy but getting there with a few people even doing beer hand ups for a little extra motivation. I did my best to collect some toll money for the long drive home with a beer hand up for good measures.

The overall weekends results were far from stellar racing the best of the best but still worth the trip. 4 weeks till nationals still leaves time to get faster.

After cleaning the bikes once last time we packed up the car and started the drive home. We grabbed a hotel in Hershey, PA to check out the chocolate capital of the world. The place is pretty crazy with Hershey kiss street lights and a giant amusement park right in the middle of the city. Although we didn't stay at the Hershey Hotel just walking around it we could see it was an architectural feat nothing short of remarkable. The pictures don't do it justice.

While driving through Hershey I happened to glance over and notice a rather intriguing sign. Beer Zoo? Of course I stopped and picked up some Yuengling which is only sold on the east coast. The trip wouldn't complete without a stop at the all famous Tim Hortons for an Icecap and some fruit explosion muffins to bring home.
Next race is the Wisconsin State Championships this Sunday.