Driving a 30 year old truck definitely has it's caveats. Like, you know, not starting once in a while. A couple weeks ago, it just wouldn't start. Battery...good. Starter solenoid...not good. Replaced that. Worked for a few days. Wouldn't start again. Well those solenoids tend not to be so good aftermarket. So under warranty I got another. This time it didn't fix the problem. Got a new starter. Nope. Wouldn't start. Eli and Isaac came to lend me a helping hand, and after much goofing around and a little bit of wrenching we found out that the old starter was the problem. But so was the new one. Yep, the new one was bad. And so were the battery cables. Got new cables. Got a new starter. Now it runs like a champ! That's a win.
I've trained a lot since my hip replacement. Lots of hours, lots of miles, good weather, bad weather, hot and cold. On paper ("the numbers") I'm as strong as I was 15 years ago. But on-paper isn't real life. In every race I've done so far this year, I have had some pretty impressive stats, but my placings haven't been what I've wanted. Here, Flannery Allison caught me going reasonably fast at Klaus Park, one of my favorite races. Looking quite old, and my placing was quite ordinary.
ICC was the state championship mountain bike race that the Beautiful Mrs. K tirelessly put on with the help of our great team sponsors. And I wish that I could tell you that it was a good race for me. In fact, it was the worst race I've had in a long time. I was just "off" and that was that. Near the end of the XCO race, Eli waited up for me. We had about a 1/4 mile to go and he kept telling me to pass him. I couldn't do it. So he slowed up even more so we could cross the finish line together. It's a moment that I won't forget, ever.
Another view, same moment. Although I was dejected, he was happy as usual just to be doing something he loves. Definitely a loss in my placing, but a win in a lot of other ways. Thanks to the Devo team parents for the photos and the season memories.
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