Man, that year flew by.

All I can say is wow. Just when it feels as though you are over racing hard all year, and your body is beginning to protest continued redline efforts, the race season winds down for another year. This is a relief in some ways, but is always bittersweet, leaving a void in many a racer's soul. Maybe we thrive on this suffering and racing lifestyle. If I can't drift a bunch of turns and smash through some awkward rock gardens every day, something is missing in my life. Its not for everyone, but sometimes I like destroying myself in a race and drooling just a little for good measure. Somehow training never produces a similar pain cave, or sense of satisfaction that one can attain in a real racing situation. Riding on the ragged edge of destruction is mentally pleasing to me at the end of the day, and this is hard to replace in my day to day life. Driving sideways in the snow comes close, but this can get expensive and tends to not win any friends with the authorities. Fortunately my car is not very valuable and bouncing it off the occasional snowbank makes me smile rather than cringe. Its almost time to ski, it just needs to start dumping really. Then I can race my friends around in the backcountry and huck to flat to my hearts content. Between now and then, I am going to try and not get arrested, driving like a jerk. Bring on winter.

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