USGP Louisville: O my goodness!

Host housing is the jam.
We've said it before, and mean it. Thanks to Greg Heck's aunt who hooked us up, we had an actual kitchen wherein to make coffee and Bob's Red Mill cereals and sit around jawin'. It was pretty darn awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Anyway, the weekend started at 10pm when we hit Louisville, watched some show that was like the Deadliest Catch but really was about lobster fishing, and played this hilarious game wherein little capsules with weights in them race down a track (and you bet on it). Don't let them fool you with the black one- it's a ringer!

Race day routine? What routine?!?
Our friends Paolo and Greg were racing at 10:15, along with our friends from My Wife Inc, and we wanted to get there to cheer them on, although Hemme and Ben didn't race till 3. The plan was to shout at them, then leave and get food, and come back around 1 to pre-ride for the 3pm races. We shouted and shouted at the 10am guys, and the course was a mad mudfest. Unfortunately, after that, the only food options were Mexican food, which is relatively not-so-pro for the pre-race eating. Whatever, who said anything about being pro? At noon, we downed the salsarifficness, and were ready to rumble.

Mud off the bike, mud on the girl.
It was going to be one of those days. It was really muddy. Not too sticky, but just enough to get caught on the tubes, enough that the Pam wasn't going to hold it off. I had the joy of doing bike wash several times before the race even started, thanks to pre-rides, and while we had initially thought it was a good day for the start-on-the-b-bike strategy (get that mudded up on the first lap, and if anyone goes down in the start melee, at least it wasn't on the A) but abandoned that as the day warmed and things got a little less insane. MWI's Mike was pitting for Parbo, and Ross came along to assist the two of us.

Ben doesn't even have to try to be a goof.
So... those first two laps, Ben did awesome. I have to say, (1) I'm bad at the first few laps, because while I know riders sort themselves out fine, I still get really excited that Ben can hold it or worried that he won't get up there, and (2) I'm very chatty at this point of a race, and for that, I'm sorry. Anyway. Three laps in or so, three riders get around Ben on the runup right next to the pit. ARGH! I assumed he was coming in, but didn't know what was up. He dismounts at the end of the pit- 40' away from me- and trips over his bike. "I CRUSHED MY NUTS!" Everyone laughed. I ran to him.
"What's wrong?"
"Front wheel." And off he went.
Only, I couldn't find anything wrong with the front wheel. Washed the bike, tightened the hub a little, checked the brakes, and that was that.

Parbo came in too, and I caught for Mike. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," he replied.

Ben rode really, really strong and finished in 23rd. Way better than expected.

We have a solid race weekend crew.
After the races, about 20 of us went out in search of food. What food we found was slow and crappy, but that group - Mo, Jessica, Ross, Paul, and Mike of MWI, Betty and Whitney, Lyne of podiuminsight.com, plus this weekend Paolo, Greg, and Hemme- what a riot. I really, really appreciate having a crew this year with so many women and even with other pitting mechanics. It's so much fun! Each weekend we leave just looking forward to the next, knowing the gang will all be there, traveling circus style.

The MWI guys are also very, very meticulous about washing their bikes, and luckily it rubbed off this weekend. I detailed Ben's bikes, and he lined up Sunday morning with the cleanest bikes of the season. (Honestly, it made it easier to give him the pro treatment when he had ridden so well and had such a great attitude.)

And Saturday night, we caught a family wedding, to boot.

Sunday Ben had the ride of his life, until it ended, but it was still good.
Sunday was more of the same, though we had a solid breakfast before the 10:15 races, and chowed on Bob's Red Mill through the day. I spent much of the morning washing, tuning, and rewashing the bikes, carrying buckets of water around, doing a good enough job that there was no work for me in the pit during the race. Ben had a crappy call-up and we weren't expecting much after yesterday's ride, but something clicked. After three laps, he was in a group with some fast guys, and he was holding steady. For three-four laps he pulled those guys around, sitting in 18th. WOW! 18th! He popped on the last lap, though, and just before the pit I watched 5 guys ride around him like he was standing still. No worries, though, he ended up being the last guy on the course- last guy not lapped- and just sort of limped in to finish. He took a bike change on the last lap, something we should do more often, so that I could wash the A bike while he finished. Man, had that race been one less lap, or had the leader come around his group, he would have been in the top 20. But, there's always next time...

A stop at the New Albanian with the Chi crew and we were on our way for the long drive home. Looking forward to some weeks at home, though a little sad to miss USGP NJ. Next trip is to Jingle Cross.