With the points championship locked up, the pressure was off for this round. Unclassified practice was early Friday afternoon. We left the morning of and were making great time until we crossed state line and were reminded that Arizona was an hour ahead. So much for a stress free weekend. We pulled into the gate fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time. I got geared up and made it to the start with only minutes to spare.
My late arrival placed me towards to back of the pack. The mud was flying and I went through all 8 tear-offs the first lap. In the two laps I was able to get in, I was quickly reminded why I was never a fan of this round. Of all the rounds, Havasu is probably my favorite location but least favorite course. It's tight, sandy, rocky and just doesn't have the flow that I love. For comparison, Primm is probably my favorite.
We were up early the next morning as Women A run first race of they day at 7:45 am. Cold and dark when we arrived, I played damsel in distress, and stayed in the warm van while my husband got the bike unloaded, warmed up, gassed up, checked tire pressure, etc. Sometimes he makes me feel like a factory racer.
Race time came and it was freezing. We were the fifth line to go. The start had a slight left sweep leading into turn one. With the slick tight conditions, I made the decision to not push hard at the start. The flag dropped and I was third going into the first turn. Caitlyn was just in front choosing to go wide on the outside and caught a rock which bucked her from her bike. She held on riding it side saddle, throttle pinned, across the track. Fortunately I had seen her just before we crossed paths and was able to jump on the brakes and keep from hitting her. Thankfully she was ok and it's now something we can laugh about (Go check out her instagram for the video @caitlynkurtz). Backing my bike up, I was now in second to last. I quickly made up time moving back into second on the first lap, but something didn't feel right. The bike was down on power and progressively got worse. The bike was bogging badly. By the fourth lap, I rode by my husband and told him I felt like the bike was going to blow. He booked it to the pits and told me to pull the plug. It wasn't worth the risk. We pushed the bike back to the van and called it quits. We spent the rest of the day watching the races and walking the shops around the London Bridge.
On Sunday, we went to the awards banquet. My child is an early riser. We have him on a schedule. He's up a 6am, takes a few naps throughout the day, and is in bed by 7pm. He's a cute baby so long as you don't keep him up past his bedtime. Around 8pm he turns into a monster. Racing with the baby is easy. He loves to watch the bikes and it fits within his daytime hours. We quickly found out that he does not care to watch an awards ceremony and he let us know it. That's the mom life though and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Aside from the bike problems, we had a wonderful time in Havasu. We enjoyed the racing, the site seeing and the weather. We wrapped up the season with a first place in Woman's A and will get the bike rebuilt and ready to go for next season. Congratulations to all and I'll see you next season.