BEST DAY EVER

by Avi

1. Rode along with Langston's first-ever fixed gear laps during the warmup.
2. Ella raced 6x: 3 with the juniors, 3 with the women. She attacked a pack of 15-18 year old boys at the whistle and finished better than DFL 3 times. She pulled in 50% more money than I did.
3. Nelson Vails, Olympic Silver medalist, former NY messenger, and Kevin Bacon's muse in Quicksilver, showed up as we were taking the line for the cat 3 State Championship Points race. NO PRESSURE
4. I countered the counter after the first points lap, and soloed for 23 laps to win.
5. Tresa and Langston witnessed me win a bicycle racing event, for the first time ever, instead of hearing about it later.
6. Nelson helped me into my quote/unquote jersey at the podium, and I got a million pictures with him.
7. I dumped my winnings into raffle tickets to fund a movie about his life story.
8. I won the raffle. The prize was a signed (copy of a) painting of Nelson, inscribed on the back that we're "cycling friends for life."
9. My luck ran out and my seat clamp cracked 2 minutes into the next race and my saddle dropped to the frame. whew.
10. This "jersey" is for Tresa, because I couldn't be a half decent bike racer, dad, or human being without her. Podiums to Al Urbanski and Jeff Perkins for teaching me how to track race, and honorable mentions for the crew, for bringing the noise.