Hi Everyone!!
Day 1 is done. Today's trail had a mixture of many different elements containing some road, jeep roads, fun flowing trail sections and some very technical uphill's. The terrain is a rocky hard pack dirt with lots of rock. The thing is the dirt is so dry, the sections have turned to silty sandy trails.
My day didn't go so good...I had some problems with a technical silty uphill. But the good news is that our Women's Team did good overall. The USA is standing in 2nd place right now, just a couple minutes behind France. There's 5 days left and with dry silty conditions and hot temperatures, 3 minutes is not much! The other good news...my knee is holding up good for the conditions, so that is a plus!! There's 5 days left and with dry silty conditions and hot temperatures, 3 minutes is not much!
Team USA World Trophy Team is riding strong. Official results have them being in 3rd place, not far off of 1st place. The USA world Trophy Team is being lead by Kurt Caselli who is officially in 1st overall!!
ISDE Greece Day 2
Hi Everyone!!
Todays trail was the same loops as we rode yesterday. Each day we ride 2 loops...so needless to say, the course was very chewed up since this was the 4th time we rode the loop.
Day 2 for the Women's USA team went well. Nicole Bradford and Maria Forsberg rode really well today. Maria moved up to 2nd overall in the women's class and Nicole moved up to 4th place. My day didn't go much better then yesterday. I am having a difficult time with the technical uphills on the 125. I lost route points again today. But, I got both tires changed tonight and the course is all new tomorrow. The word is...that tomorrow's trail doesn't have any technical uphills, with more flowing trail. So hopefully, tomorrow will bring me a better day with some better times. The USA Women still stand in 2nd place behind France.
The World Trophy Team is still riding strong. Kurt was penalized today for getting off the course in the endoro test. They are working on getting the pentaly reduce. Right now, the USA is standing in a solid 3rd place.
ISDE Greece Day 3 Update
Hi Everyone!!
Today went much better for myself. I didn't drop any trail points and really had an enjoyable day. My special test times are still not where I'd like them to be, but I'm working on it and trying to improve everyday. Nicole had excellent special test times today, but unfortunately, she broke her triple clamp mount and lost about 17 route points. Maria had another good day! She is staying strong and leading our team! At the end of the day today, the USA Women's Team is still standing in a solid 2nd place.
Team USA World Trophy rider Kurt Caselli went out today. He had a major get off in one of the transfer sections and suffered a severe concussion. But the rest of the World Trophy team is rolling strong with Rick Dietrick and Nathan Woods putting in impressive rides today. The USA World Trophy team is currently standing in 3rd place.
Tomorrows trail will be the same trail as we rode today. It's 2 loops of fast jeep roads and some enjoyable trail sections, along with 3 special tests that we ride two times. The sections today seemed to hold up alot better than Day 1 & 2 course.
Thanks for everyone support!! Go Team USA!!!
ISDE Greece Day 4 Update
Hi Everyone!!
Day 4 is in the record books!! Today's trail was the same as yesterday's course. The only things different was we pre-rode the enduro test for Day 5. Needless to say, the course was really chewed up today, after 4 laps on the 75 mile loop with 300 riders per loop. Tomorrow's course will be made up off mostly new trail with some transfer sections being part of trail that we have already rode. We are suppose to go back up the gnarly uphill that we did on Day 1 & 2, the one that gave me all kinds of problems, but rumor has it.....they are going to route us around that. So everyone, keep your fingers crossed for me, please!!! =) Other than that, the course will contain alot of the same stuff terrain stuff that we have ridden all week. Dusty and rocky conditions with transfer jeep roads and the creek section towards the bottom of the mountain.
Day 4 went well for me. I didn't drop any trail points and did okay in most of the test. Nicole had some bike problems today, but she got it all taken care of and is ready for Day 5. Maria had another outstanding day today with really good test scores. The USA Women's Team is currently standing in 2nd place with France still in 1st. But there is a protest taking place right now at the jury meeting in regards to France, so standing may or may not change. We'll have to wait and see.
The World Trophy team is still doing very well. They are currently standing in 3rd place. Nathan Woods has been having a phenomenal ride after is bikes problems on Day 1. He was 1st in 2 of the special test today and stayed within the top 5 of most of the others. Ricky Deitrich is also staying really strong. He actually posted the fast overall scores for Day 4 for the USA World Trophy team. The rest of the team, Kanney, Abbott and Jarrett are all right there too, posting great test times.
Thanks for everyone's support! Just one more day and a final moto!! Go Team USA!!