NY, VT, MA (in that order)

MA: We now have internet, cable, and air conditioning. (But no cell service or Starbucks.) Heather, Zeph and I are staying near Hancock, MA for the Kenda Fest next weekend. We checked into the Jiminy Peak ski resort this afternoon, threw our bags down, turned on the air conditioning and TV and really haven't moved. NY: Last week's ST (Windham, NY) was not great for me, I finished 20th with another blown fork, completely stiff, no movement whatsoever. I don't think the fork had much to do with what place I got; but still, two forks gone in two days of racing. I love these forks when they work, crazy light with an adjustable threshold on the lockout (you can easily adjust the threshold during the race). Once they get them tweaked just right, this will be the fork to get. VT: After the fly-in-and-race schedule for NY it was nice to have a week in Vermont before the National Championship race. This time we were in a 6 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 story ski house. Once again we were without air conditioning, cell phone service, or a Starbucks; and there was no TV service/signal. Luckily we packed DVDs so caught up on movies but now don't know what is going on in the world. Hanging out with the team and friends was a lot of fun; singlespeed Andrew found fun trails near the house for us and offered us beer every day. Blake kept everyone happy and the kitchen clean. Fork Fix: Thursday teammate Robert blew his fork and figured out a fix, so our mechanic for the east coast races, Ted (see picture), re-did one of my forks and Friday re-did the other. I took three pages of notes and now can do it myself. Result= 13th in the National championship race in VT and the fork was still working perfectly. I raced ST Sunday and placed 18th, not a great result, but they pulled super early and without warning. Given that I was feeling strong and hadn't started thinking about wanting to quit yet, I think I would have continued to move up (obviously I waited too long to get going). But most importantly, the fork is still operating properly. More details on the Vermont National Championship XC race: Heather, Zeph and I finished 11th, 12th, and 13th. We were getting huge cheers from spectators all over the course, especially on the techy downhills. I don't thing I have ever had that many people screaming for me/my team. My favorite comments were "You Kenda Girls Rock this Downhill!" and from spectator Marla Streb (when I said hi; surprised to see her watching us on the climb, not that she has a clue who I am) "Nice Smile". I guess I was smiling out there; Ted said I was smiling when I came through the feedzone. Probably because my bike was working (thanks Ted!), my legs were working (thanks Lynda!) and the spectators were loud. It was hot and humid, but luckily the rain held off. Actually one really loud thunderstorm hit in the middle of the night before the XC race. I bet every pro racer was laying awake wondering how bad the course was going to get and what tires to run. Luckily it didn't do much at all. Party: to celebrate we ate nachos & pizza, and drank beer & margaritas with Fuzzy and Dejay. We watched downhillers get out of hand at the Silo, fighting in the bar, breaking glasses and talking smack to our "crosscountry" table. I'll add more pictures later. Bad News: Sue Haywood broke her ankle on the first lap, hope she is recovering okay.