Team Kakouris goes to the Races

Sunday dawned and it was time to load up and head out to the UFD Mountain Bike Race at the Forest City Trails in St. James.  Eli and I were signed up to race, but since he's been at football practice all week, he was sore and crabby and didn't race. But he came along anyway, and that made it possible to bring along everyone's favorite Hound Dog, Remi.  Remi loves car rides. And Remi has his favorite spot, which is on top of Eli. These two are so precious together!

We all know that I cannot control myself when it comes to the start of a mountain bike race.  And today proved to be no different than my very first race in 1988.  The Beautiful Mrs. K snapped this pic of me doing what I do...shooting out of the barrel of a gun when the starter says GO!  I love the Forest City Trails, as they are super-duper-tight and technical. As such, I didn't want to go into the woods behind anyone.  And I didn't.

But I did come out of the woods behind a few guys.  The Cat 1 mountain bike races are small but very dense with talent, so in a 16-man field there are 10 guys that have won races.  I led the first lap but my own talent ran thin and I finished 6th.  I checked my lap times from 2019 on the identical course and I was spot-on.  I have a grimaced smile going on here, happy to be somewhat competitive with the competition, but also bummed that I couldn't do more.

Races over, the crew was hungry and ready to go home.  There was a big back-up on highway 44, so we tooled into lovely downtown St. James for a bite to eat and to wait out whatever was blocking the highway.

The Hound Dog had a great time at the races.  He's still a bit of a spaz when it comes to people and people on bikes, but he got the hang of greeting folks properly.  Most fall in love with this big, sweet monster.

We rewarded Remi with his own Sonic Burger.  He was a bit tentative at first because we rarely let him eat such things.  But after he realized he was given a chance at an honest-to-goodness people burger, he laid into it!

Highway clear and stomachs full, we headed home. And although the trip was a bit stop and go for a while, Eli and Remi found their comfy spots in the back seats.  It was a fine outing for Team Kakouris!