MFG #3 5 Mile Lake Park, Federal Way

On Sunday we got to race at a brand new venue. 5 Mile Lake Park in Federal Way. Thank you to my husband's fellow team mate and good friend Dave Pearson on Collision 1 for introducing this park to the MFG team.

The park is small but they used every inch of it well and it really was a fun course. Mostly flat but lots of corners and even a long sand section on the water. I really enjoyed this course and hope we continue to race here in the future.

We drove down to Dave's house Saturday evening. Dave and Corazon were nice enough to put us up for the night at their house that was all of 4min ride time away from the course. Awesome!! We slept in their living room on an air bed and boy was it comfy! And Lucky, their dog is now one of my favorite dogs. So cute and so darn fuzzy!

We woke up Sunday morning and the guys ran over to the course to set up camp. I packed up our stuff and Chad came back to get me and we made our ritual stop at Starbucks for coffee and off to the course.

I got out and did a easy ride on the course with a client of mine and right away I knew I loved the course and I just knew it was going to be a good day. I raced first out of the family. I lined up and we had 10 ladies I think in the 1/2 Cat. We took off and I got the whole shot off the start with Jenni Gaertner right on my wheel. We pulled away a bit from the rest of the ladies and I kept pushing hard knowing Jenni has a strong road backround and I knew this would be a good course for her. So every time I could I got up an attacked and used my bike handling skills to take the corners fast and not have to slow down.

I managed to get gap so I sat in for one lap to catch my breath and then hit it hard again till the end. I got the win, and managed to move up through half of the field of guys that started a couple min ahead of us. My legs just felt amazing, no pain. I love those days when it all comes together on race day and you feel like you are on a cloud. It was a great race for me and I had so much fun. Jenni had a crash with a couple laps to go so Jessica Culter got around her to finish in 2nd and Jenni in 3rd.

Holden raced next, he raced this one without me riding with him. He was awesome, so strong and he really like the course also. I had a friend tell us that he attacked the run up and ran it faster then any other kid!! I am so proud!! He had so much fun after the race he did another lap to cool down. That is great, he is really starting to love racing and wants to know when he gets to have one of my bikes as a hand me down!

Chad went last on the day. He was hoping for a great day, with a great week of training in the books. But unfortunately the legs just weren't there for him. He started out in around 15th off the start and then just didn't have anything to move up. He finished in the 20's and was pretty bummed out. But there always the next race. Watch out Cat 1/2 35+ guys, he is on a mission this week to redeem himself. And it was awesome, our good friends Katy and Chad came down to watch us race. They are firefighter friends of ours, it was fun seeing them at the race!!

Ok we have SCX #2 at Beverly Park this Sunday. Another course I like it has a great downhill technical section that a lot of people freak out on so my bike handling skills can come into play again!!

Kristi