laughs and I ’ m way too pleased with myself . Though my riding wasn ’ t great , any day of the ISDE you can end smiling is a good one . Despite my lackluster ride , we have a six-minute lead now . Goncalves is nipping at my heels but I ’ m still fourth as an individual .
DAY THREE
To keep up morale , I order Brandy ’ s cappuccino while they ’ re still upstairs . Britney hasn ’ t been drinking coffee , so I don ’ t know what nice to do for her except try to be less energetic at 6:15 . Though we ’ ve slept in later and later , we ’ re once more fully geared with an hour before impound time . So I wander the pits aimlessly and make equally aimless small talk with the workers and riders . I briefly enter the club container ( my old happy place ) to smell the tires and touch the stickers for luck .
Goncalves and I are still together , but today a different rider joins us – Justine Martel , from France . I introduce myself , and discover she speaks a little English . We walk into the work area side by side – no sprinting from me today . My front isn ’ t bad , not worth the stress of changing . Yet I still have some bikerelated stress today . I roll into check 2 with my rear axle nut spun threequarters off . I ’ m scolded by Britney ( pay attention !). An easy fix , but a terrifying what-if .
Hybrid is our only new test . It ’ s considered a cross but has some trail – parts almost as tight as a NEPG . I enjoy the single-track but am not a huge fan of the big off-camber corners , at least the downhill ones . I feel like I ’ m coming to a complete stop and just creeping around them … but based on test times , it looks like everyone in our class except Brandy is too .
By now , I recognize all the transfer . Well , the landmarks and turns anyways – the trail itself is destroyed . There ’ s still fun parts , but so much silt . The riverbeds have whooped up , and my back aches looking at them . For some reason , the promoters have also decided to include yesterday ’ s blown-out riverbed test
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 100