Belt Test and 2nd C-X Win

On Saturday I took a belt test for my 2nd black stripe. I suffered a horrible, awful piece of bloody gnar (a.k.a. a pulled groin muscle) on a school backpacking trip last week, and didn't think I would be able to test. However, once I had warmed up and stretched it, I felt able to complete the test. I felt some pain on a few kicks, especially retreating kicks like badchagi and reverse narabon. The 360 spinning hook kick board break at the end was difficult but I got it on my fourth attempt. I'll hopefully be able to get a vid that a friend shot up here soon.

Today I did the season's second cyclocross event in Butte. I got a decent start, with the kid who wound up in second drafting off me on the asphalt path at the start, through the winding section and over the barriers. On the second asphalt section, I attacked and got a gap, which I built on for the rest of the race. After the secondary asphalt, a technical descent gave way to a relatively lengthy yet rideable run up. After another technical section, a sand pit was the only thing that stood in between me and the next lap. In practice, I flipped over my handlebars going into it. I didn't realize the damage to my bike until twenty minutes before the race. My front deraileur was stubbornly not allowing me to get off my big chain ring. A friend's dad did some quick repairs, and managed to force the chain to stay on the middle ring. It worked for the time being and I rode my semi-singlespeed bike to victory! There are so many photos of both events that I am including them in another post also going out tonight!