One last note about the Carbondale race. The guys used a nice feature of having yellow tape on your right and orange tape on the left. That's a little feature that some guys may not have noticed but it helps a rider read the course. Nice touch.

Faust Park made for a good race Sunday. Soft ground, but not muddy, ground. Enough up and down, fast off-camber turns, uphill hurdles. A course that handed out plenty of hurt on blustery day.

And speaking of hurt, my left butt his aching today. What felt like a jammed hip after Saturday's race feels much more like a pulled muscle today. I'm giving it some rest today and hope to spin some tomorrow and keep it loose. I'm just wanting it to heal sufficiently for next Sunday.

I got a nice start Sunday and was a solid third over the first barrier and past the finish line. Pfood and Jeff set a quick pace on the first lap and I was happy setting a good tempo for me. Starting with the 2nd lap, I began to drift backward as a number of guys went by. My guess is dropped back to about 9th but I stayed on the wheel of Jose, Greg and Dodd. Dodd dropped off and a lap later I came back around Greg and Jose up the first hill. For the next 4-5 laps I gave chase of Jeff and Mr. Black and White guy. Jose and Greg hung tough and stuck to my wheel as we eventually caught Jeff.

Eventually, I popped and the three of them came past but I kept Greg within reach. Bob Crow, meanwhile, was gradually gaining in the final laps and I knew it would be close on the last lap. On the penultimate lap, Greg took a spectacular tumble as he dismounted at the uphill hurdle.

One lap to go and Bob was closer again and I was getting close to lapping Leistner. I got held up a little bit in the tight section along the brushy area as we approached the final start/finish area. By then, Bob was right on my wheel. I started to make a move to get around Leistner just before the short paved section. I thought there were two ways around a tree but as I went to make the move all I saw was tape and I swerved back in line. We hit the pavement and then gravel section. I carried good speed through the gravel knowing that if I made onto the tight, grassy section my place was pretty secure. Bob hung tough and attempted to pass in the S-turns leading up to the final hurdle and finish. He swung it wide coming out of the turn. Meanwhile, I was carrying a little more speed than previous laps and also swung wide. We made contact as he hit the brakes into the tape. I continued on relatively unscathed and cruised across the line knowing that the heat was off.

The guys (Butthead and Nate, I presume) set up a real nice course that tested a riders skills.