USA BMX Gold Cup weekend

First rule of a crazy couple weeks: breathe. That, and don’t forget to pack the necessary gear.
Two weeks ago (Sept. 17th & 18th) was our Gold Cup Southern Central Finals. Snacks and drinks were bought, the cooler was stocked with plenty of ice, the car and bike was washed and shined, and everything under the sun was thrown haphazardly in the eggplant colored behemoth that is my roller luggage. The drive to De Soto, a small town about 45 minutes South of Dallas was a dream of a road trip. Good music was on, (pop was traded for classic rock) the sun was shining, and the Blue Beast got a whopping 45 mpg. (Yay for being an adult and caring about gas mileage!) I made it to the track, signed up at the USA BMX trailer, checked out the layout, and said hi to people I haven’t seen in a while. Being at Metroplex BMX felt so surreal. The last time I was at the track was 2005 or 6, when I used to come ride on Saturday nights and then camp out for the like the little weirdo I was. I went through that college party phase, but give me a chill outdoorsy activity on a Saturday night over babysitting drunken idiots at a club any day. It was such an amazing feeling to be back at a place I had loved so much. After checking out the race that afternoon, I checked in to my hotel and scoped out the local food offerings.

Coming to a major competition after not having ridden in the last month and a half, and being pretty much incapacitated due to allergies for the last two weeks was a bit worrying. Cue nervous looking cartoon person wringing hands while sweating bullets, anxiously searching left and right for a way out. Yikes. Plan of the weekend—hold your s#*t together, try your hardest, and have fun. Solid plan.
Practice on Saturday was a blast! It was so much fun to get out there and be active again, not to mention I absolutely love doing gates. Your version of a Monday night football party is my version of gates. Yep, I know it’s weird. I’m okay with that. Fast forward to the actual races— Saturday and Sunday I had 4 other women in my moto. I got 3rd each race each day, and it was awesome to chase the 1st and 2nd place girls (one had come all the way from New Mexico to race). I also came to the realization that I needed to train. A lot. And hard. And starting yesterday. 😛 New solid plan. 

I loved getting to see some people that I never usually get to see, and being outside on a weekend like that was a blessing. It was pretty hot out, so I drank my weight in water and Powerade and went back to the cooler in between motos to happily dunk the bottom half of my arms in the ice.
The track itself is in a large semi covered enclosure, and located in Grimes Park. Both days just about every baseball and soccer field was in use, but there was plenty of parking. The park itself is gorgeous and I wish we had something like it in my area. Everything was so beautiful and I wish that I had taken more pictures of the park and fields.

Oh! And did I mention? With my points going into the weekend from the previous two Gold Cup qualifiers and the final two races, I got lucky and ended up with the Gold Cup #1 plate in my 20” class!!! Woohoo!! I got a cute jacket and a number plate, and a burger and frozen lemonade from Sonic on the way home. Hold you s%*t together mission complete. J
I hope everyone’s having a MAAAAHHHHVALOUS day!