The Chicago Criterium!!!

This Grant Park venue for today’s race was second to none! The promoters did an outstanding job through and through. Everything ran as an event should-Superweek promoters could learn a lot from these people. Punctual start times, friendly volunteers, smooth check-in, 2x JUMBO-tron’s & more… Thank you sponsors and City of Chicago!

Now to the race report… The course layout was great. The second turn was the only real concern I had (slick pavement and tight corner with 4 lanes consolidated to 2) as it was recipe for disaster.

As I took a long warm-up amongst the sea of the large local teams, I was anticipating a very fast & very tough race that would see many attacks. I needed to stay at the front all day (ready to go with an attack & stay safe).

Unbelievably, none of that took place. There were a few attacks but nothing worth chasing. There were some large prime’s that the field was more interested in so I just sat in near the front and waited for an opportunity. I started to chase a prime but wasn’t in the right sport coming out of the last turn so I sat up. I needed to be top 5 out of the last turn at the finish…

Last lap and the field was in tact & incredibly jumpy. I was about 1/3rd back and managed to find some holes on the back-stretch. There was 1-away (early attack) and the field was bunching up in the turns (with others diving into the corners) so I jumped. I figured it was my only chance to place or stay safe through the finish. I made a clear break from the field with 1 in tow while approaching the last turn. I hit the last turn full-tilt & ready to jump again and then it happened…

Some morons decided to dive into the last turn and take me (and many others) out from the side. It’s ridiculous, stupid and just plane lame!
I went from 2nd, to DNF, to medical, just that fast. I ended up sliding across 4 traffic lanes and through the metal barriers. A great venue & great race ruined by selfish & ignorant racers with the inability to handle a bike!!! Jackasses! Major jackasses!

Superweek Wrap-up

Superweek is a must for all racers at some point through their racing career! I’ve met a lot of very nice people and made friends from all over the US. Racing Superweek is fun & demanding (mentally & physically) and will elevate your game-there is a lot of talent that shows up. The racers are fast and determined to win. Bring you’re a-game!

I struggled terribly the first week of racing. Injuries and rest taken from my crash a month prior had taken a toll on me. Fortunately, I was able to regroup heading into the second week and find my legs.

Some personal opinions:
Superweek, the event-
The volunteers, registration ladies, officials and staff do an amazing job! Day-in and day-out these people are the reason (the only reason) this event is a success. These people go out of their way to “grow the sport.”

Unfortunately, the event is poorly organized at best.
--Races start late, race times & distances are drastically cut as a result.
--Officials cut laps from races during races and even in side of 5 laps to go! Unacceptable!
--Courses are unsafe & unfit for racers (last minute changes to course to allow for race) ***Promoter dropped the ball & USA Cycling failed to inspect the course prior to race day.
--Race schedules & bible not available for racers until race series begins (not allowing “International” racers to plan ahead

This event should be cut back to 1-week of really good races at good venues with really good planning. The promoters are way over their heads right now.

This year I raced 13 of 16 days, with 2 rest days (needed) taken and 1 injury (Angela) to care for.

I witnessed (and was mixed up in) more crashes in “my races” in 13 days than I’ve seen in the last 2 seasons of racing in the southern US combined.

Racers at Superweek (many local teams) have no regard for personal safety or racer diplomacy. They will cuss you, threaten you, swing at you and physically take you out (unintentionally but due to poor skills and aforementioned disregard for safety). The problem is wide-spread and it is a BIG problem…

Superweek Day #15 "There will be blood"

It keeps getting worse.

1st off, Angela suffered a rough fall early on in her race. She managed to get to the wheel pit, take her free lap and jump back in. Unfortunately a break of 7 had gone in the same lap (all 7 ladies in the top 10 overall). That attack would surely stay away. Angela is resting well but will be out the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.

Due to Angela’s injury I was unable to race today. After the carnage that occurred in yesterday’s Cat 3 race I had been debating weather or not to retire from the series early and return to Texas in one piece. The decision was made for me today.

I received reports from friends in Milwaukee that today’s race (Cat 3) drew the capacity 150+racers! There was a 20-racer wreck in the 2nd lap and another pile-up half way through the race. I didn’t miss anything today…

Superweek Day #14 "Crash up derby day"

It was a great course today-just like yesterday-short, flat, smooth and fast. It just wasn’t fast enough… Angela and I took an easy 30 minute spin after breakfast this morning to work out some kinks-it helped. I went into today’s race pain-free, which was much better than yesterday.

For the most part the day was incident free-until the last 20 laps… Wreck after wreck, people cutting corners, cutting wheels, coming unclipped (cause of 2 separate wrecks) and just being ignorant. It was really bad. I’m not just talking about 1 or 2 guy’s going down; I’m talking about large groups. To add insult to injury they were going to the wheel pit, taking their free lap and jumping back in to cause more damage. I counted 3 separate crashes in the last lap alone. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to pack up and call it a trip because I’m running out of lives.

I felt tired, but great all day. Unfortunately I never got the opportunity to wind it up at the finish. Just too sketchy today, maybe tomorrow.

Angela's $.02

Thursday July 24, 2008- Racine, WI
30 mile crit on 0.8 mile course
We were in the nice little town of Racine, WI. The course was a few blocks away from the water which provided for a nice warm up. My legs were a little sore from all the hills over the past two days. But, this was a good race. I sat in the front half for most of the race. They called 2 laps to go two times. The first time was a mistake. This didn’t mess with me me, but it did others. I just kept my same place in line. We had a strong head wind on final sprint and I placed 10th. 2 women were already off the front, so we were racing for 3rd. Got a massage tonight...hope it doesn't interfere with tomorrow.


Friday July 25, 2008- Kenosha, WI
25 mile crit on 0.6 mile course= 50 lapsVery short course with a lot of attacks. I spent most of the race towards the front and on front few times; I was top 10 coming out of last turn and one woman cut in and took first. I ended up 6th today.

Superweek Day #13 "sitting in"

Angela asked me tonight “why were you in the back all day today?”

It’s called being really, really tired from 12 days of racing… Try “recovering” while doing a 45-mile & 65-lap Criterium on a flat and fast course. It’s not the easiest thing in the world-can you say ATTACKS??? After killing myself to get into a break (that didn’t stick) yesterday, I was really tired and really sore. Sitting in was about all I could do today.

The course was fun (but rough on the back stretch) and the weather was great. My legs (although sore) are coming back-along with my timing. The finishing stretch was 4 lanes wide and about 800-900 meters with a slight head wind. I came out of the last turn with an attack up the left side sitting 3rd wheel. We snaked the entire field and I was able to hold out for 3rd across the line in the field sprint. Good day!

Superweek Day #12 "More hills!!!"

Regarding yesterday; we figured that course was the equivalent of a 120 hill repeat workout. Just FYI…

Today’s course was very similar to New Braunfels circuit race. In fact today’s course was called a road race but it was much more like that of a circuit-rolling hills, some false flats, and a steep winding climb to the finish line. The distance today was 40 miles and we covered it in 17 laps (1:25).

I felt really good considering yesterday’s brutal course. Even in warm-up I wasn’t stiff or sore but I was a little fatigued.

I felt comfortable in the field & with my legs right from the start. There were some attacks early on but nothing to be concerned about. With 7 laps (14 miles) to go an attack group of 7 went off the front-from the back side of the course (through the rollers & false flat). This was not good considering the level of fatigue in the field and the timing… As we hit the 180 turn and the winding turn up to the finish I was feeling strong and climbing well (around 10th) when somebody attacked up the left-I went with. We made a clean break very quick & managed to bridge (huge gap) by the time we hit the false flats. It was a SOLID break with 8 away (my helper cratered) and the field out of sight. We’ll stick this (I was spent but recovered quickly and jumped into the rotation)!

The field let us go for 2 laps but quickly shut us down. I managed to jump back in, recover and wait for the finish.

I felt good about my legs and managed a good move up the last climb but got pinched and was forced to give way (not crash) only to accelerate again and hold on for 13th.

Nothing spectacular to show for as far as results go but my legs are coming back to me & I’m excited about that. I’m feeling stronger (and sorer) every day; which is hard to believe considering the number of races I’ve done in the last week.

4 days (races) to go...

Angel's $.02
Wednesday July 23, 2008- Whitnall Park
30 mile Road Race
I started the day off with a mechanical issue right before start and did not make it to the line on time. Ugggh. After Jason tinkered with by bike a bit, I took it over to the SRAM mechanics (neutral support) for them to take a look at it. My derailleur hanger was bent and my shifter cable was frayed. So all was repaired and replaced and the officials let me jump into the race as long as I did not go for the sprint at the finish. I started 4 laps down and had a good training ride. The pack stayed together today and I might have done well, but we will never know. The finish was uphill, so not to my liking and it may have been best that I did not “race.”

Superweek Day #11 "Back in business"

We departed Chicago early to get Angela to her race at 1130am (race report to follow). The course was rectangular with 3 sides of climbing and 1 sharp descent into the last rurn w/an uphill finish. This was by far the toughest course of the series… Suffer-feast!

Attacks, after attacks, after attacks, caused about 20 riders to get dropped in the first 4-10 laps (of 45 lap race). After that we shed about 1-2 racers per lap-CRAZY. Thankfully, my legs felt great going into the day. Although I just wanted to lie down in the grass and take a nap; my legs responded to everything I asked of them-a first since I’ve been at Superweek.


With 10 to go I moved toward the front and managed to hold a good position into the last lap. Coming out of the last turn I was sitting about 10 back (where I wanted for an uphill sprint) and making ground quick when my rear derailleur pulley threw my chain. I was able to hold the sprint but unable to gear up any further. I ended up 8th in the field sprint.

It was a tough race but a great mental and physical test. Tomorrow’s race is pretty hilly as well, so we’ll see…

Angela's $.02
Tuesday July 22, 2008- Cedarburg
25 mile crit
This course was KILLER, a rectangle with hills on 3 sides. The first few laps were fast, and then 4 women attacked and went off the front. The group immediately tried to chase and I was in the first chase group. We chased for a few more laps, and then we just settled in. About 2/3 into the race, the sprinkles and rain started and the temperature dropped to 65. On the turn 4 of the final lap, I let myself get gapped due to the wet pavement and finished the day 12th out of 35.

Superweek Day #10 Rest Day #2

Angela & I went for an easy spin today in Chicago. Lazy days are fun but they fly by entirely too fast…

News Flash*** Check out the links to yesterday’s Cat 3 race finish. I think you’ll see just how rough it can get up here.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfs55TB9srg

Photo Series: http://flickr.com/photos/margaretandjeff/sets/72157606284078252/

*Warning-The video is very graphic. If you’re a racer you may not want to watch this…

Superweek Day #9 Welcome back legs! Welcome to Chicago Angela!!!

It’s amazing how bad you can feel one day and be strong the next. I was really nervous going into today’s stage. I had no idea how my legs would feel and I didn’t want to deal with another disappointment like yesterday. Thankfully that wasn’t an issue.

Angela’s flight arrived at 930am so I picked her up from O’hare airport and headed directly to Evanston for her race (start time 1pm). Thankfully, everything was running on time so we were in Evanston with the bike built and ready to warm up by 12:00. Perfect!

Angela’s race was 15miles and she managed to find a good spot in the pack early on. With 4 to go there was a stoppage due to a wreck (10miunte delay). Officials declared the lead racer (maintaining 15-20 second gap on field) the winner and the field would race for the remaining spots with only 2 laps remaining (they shaved 2 laps) at the re-start. Angela finished 3rd in the field sprint 4th overall! Not a bad first day…

Meanwhile, I’m watching (and yelling) her race thinking “she’s doing really well and I’d better step it up today.”

I managed a 2nd row spot at the start line (80+ racers) only to be hear that they would be drastically cutting laps from our race (NO GOOD) due to time****See notes below. I was quick to move to the front and stay out of trouble (tight figure 8, 6-turn course). Going into the 2nd & 3rd lap I knew my legs would be ok today-no repeat of yesterday. So, that was a big relief. About half way through the (40 mile) race the race was stopped due to downed riders on the course. During the stoppage, officials shaved more laps-NOT GOOD. Restart! We went from 18 to go to 14 to go after the restart. This caused a large portion of the field to LOOSE THEIR MINDS! Racers were making extremely dangerous & stupid moves on an already technically difficult course-it was really quite unnerving.

With 10 to go I moved up to the front (15 or so) only to see the lap counter go from 10 to 8 to 6 to 4 laps. That’s right; they were shaving laps in the race with fewer than 5 to go. Unacceptable!!! Racers were going crazy with attack after attack. I had a good spot going into the last turn only to get my wheel cut (moron). The finishing sprint ended in total carnage. Somebody near the front went down in the middle of the road and there were bikes and bodies everywhere. I had to weave between the bikes, bodies, and wheels all over the course just to cross the line. CRAZY finish! Glad to be upright…

Superweek Day #8 Worst race ever...

Things can only get better from here. LOL! I got shelled 20 minutes into the race. I felt like a first time Cat 5 lining up for a P/1/2 race-pathetic.

I warmed up for about 30 minutes and felt pretty good but we ended up taking a 30 minute delay due to a bad wreck & race stoppage in the Pro-women’s race.
In order to get a good spot at the line (a MUST at these races with 120+ racers & tight courses) I had to stand around in staging for 30 minutes.

Basically, I set myself up for failure today (I think). I took yesterday off-totally off. I did nothing all day except get a massage and eat a lot of food. I should have done some easy spinning last night but I was exhausted. I sleep 10+ hours a night and I could lay down and fall asleep at the starting line… NOT GOOD.

I returned to Chicago tonight, ate a good dinner and went for a 1:30 easy spin with some short intervals. It felt good so we’ll see about tomorrow.

Angela arrives in the morning and we go straight to Evanston. It’s going to be CRAZY FAST &
crowded. I’m excited for her and hopeful for myself.

Forecast of rain. Rain + 160 racers + technical 8-turn race = Good Fun!!!

Superweek Day # 7 Rest Day #1

Well, today’s my first rest day. There will be more! I’m exhausted… This tour combined with a long season has really taken its toll on me. I’m having a hard time finding snap in my legs so I’m having to take some rest days to salvage the remainder of the tour.

The most frustrating part of the whole thing is that I’m not racing like myself. I’ve spoken with Shaun Taylor about some nutrition and strategy-it was very helpful. I appreciate him taking the time out of his very busy schedule-while preparing for his 24 Hour World Solo Championships MTB Race. Thanks Shaun!

Superweek Day #6 "Sooooo tired..."

WOW. What a difference a day can make. Yesterday I felt strong & full of energy, today, not so much. We started with about 60 in the field. 10 miles into it and we had shed about 20. I got gapped behind a wreck in turn 1 (right before the climb) about 20 minutes in but managed to catch back on.

Today was the first day in Wisconsin so there were a lot of fresh legs in the pack & it was obvious. Guy’s were getting popped & just sitting up all over the place. So much in fact you’d be in a line and next thing you knew the guy in front was 10 bike lengths off the back. That’s pretty much what happened. I chased for 3 laps on a very hilly 1 mile course… Friends of mine (already dropped) said my chase was “valiant.” LOL I’m tired…

When I dropped there were 28 in the field. The field finished with 20. 1/3rd of the starters made it to the line…

I’m hoping Shaun Taylor can give me some sort of magical nutritional concoction that will help. Otherwise I’m thinking about taking a rest day tomorrow. I’d like to say I did all 16 stages but I’d also like to put up some strong results… We’ll see. It's going to be a LONG week...

Travis Troxtell finished 5th in the field sprint & Robert Biard did some quality work in the last lap to help keep it strung out. Unfortunately he went down but he'll be ready for tomorrow.

Tonight I stay with Megan & Mike from Milwaukee. They hosted me last year and were kind enough to invite me back again this year.

Superweek Day #5 "Thank You Shelby"

So I started my day with a wakeup call from Shelby Reynolds. For those of you who don’t know Shelby, she’s a 17 year-old that races for the Sugar Cycles-Specialized Regional Women’s Racing Team. So basically she rocks the house… Anyway, Shelby’s racing in Portland this week and called me to see how my racing was going. More importantly, she was calling because she had read my blog and was concerned that I wasn’t having any “fun” because I wasn’t winning (she knows me). So I set out to have fun today, because damn it-Shelby says so!

Well, fun I had… Although my results wouldn’t reflect said fun-I managed to find my legs & mix it up like I usually do.

Same course as yesterday, 35 miles, 40 laps, with attacks, and breaks all day long. I managed to jump into 2 attacks but they only lasted a couple laps each. With 5 to go there was a group of 6 up the road about 100 meters and they were just hanging there-but nobody was going to bring them back. With 2 to go they were still out there and we were not making ground-just letting them have the top 6 places… Hell no! I’m tired of that. As we were coming out of the last turn I was sitting about 5 back and I launched an all-out attack in an attempt to bridge the gap. I tried to bring a GS Tenzing racer with me but he couldn’t jump on fast enough so it was a clean break. I managed to reel in the leaders just past the 2nd turn. They all jumped as I joined and I held onto the rear for about 15 seconds. Coming into the 2nd to last turn our field split (everybody cratered) and I didn’t have enough to bridge to the leader again. We got swallowed up in the last turn-I ended up finishing at the end of the pack. 1 managed to stay away for the win. Again, the group would have just let them have the top 6 places.

In the end I got dropped but A. I tried something new-and avoided the dangerous group sprint and B. I really ruined 5 guys’ day. Now that’s fun!
Thanks Shelby!

Superweek Day#4 Lame, lame, lame!!!

I’ve been waiting for my legs to come back to me… This has not been Jason Danvir racing. Day #1 I felt really strong but I’ve been struggling to find my rhythm ever since. So I mentally prepared myself to move to the front early and STAY there. I did.

The course was probably the nicest we’ve seen so far (repeat tomorrow) with good roads and no major death traps along the course. We started at 2:35pm and it was hot-not Houston hot, but hot & windy (previously mentioned WINDY City) for the 35 miles we covered. In the end I felt better about my legs today but am frustrated with the fields & local teams here. Area teams show up in packs of 3-10 and DO NOTHING. There will be a break up the road 20-30 seconds and teams with NOBODY in the break just sit in and sandbag! Worthless! Racing for 5th and 6th isn’t racing-you should just go play golf.

So if you haven’t figured where this is going-a break (one of many attacks today) went 25 miles in and stuck. In the end I felt like I had something to offer (so did the other 55 guy’s in the field) so I moved up to a pretty good spot until the joker 2 rows up decided he forgot what the last turn looked like (even though this was our 35th lap) and laid it down-taking 3 others with him.

No injuries here but I nearly came to a complete stop about 400 meters shy of the finish. Oh well, 4 days down 12 to go… That just sounds wrong…

Side note-Travis & Robert from TX Tough looked good today. Robert went down in the aforementioned wreck but he’s ready to go for tomorrow. Travis ended up 12th I believe. Nice!

A local blog to check out: http://thefattym.blogspot.com/ Matt's a pretty cool guy I met last year and he's looking strong again this year.
Local website: http://www.chicagobikeracing.com/ An interesting read with daily recap & locals feedback and comments.

Superweek Day #3 "I want to go home..."

So I started the day with breakfast, stretching & the Tour on VS. Amazingly enough I’m not sore… (Foreshadowing)

My mom (designated driver) and I headed out to the course after an early lunch-and that’s when the wheels fell off the train (literally). About 5 minutes into my warm-up I broke a spoke on my front wheel. Yeah-not good. I limped over to the SRAM “neutral” wheel pit where they reluctantly hooked me up with a temp wheel (Zipp 404).

Without much of a warmup (5 min or so) I managed to force myself to stay in the top 10-20 for most of the day. My hope was that some of the field would be tired after 2 hard days of racing but that didn’t work out so well. Buy the 23rd minute I was seriously thinking “I want to go home.” I was miserable! Attacks + pain & suffering, repeat… This is ridiculously fast and it needs to end! By the 34th minute the attacks slowed but the pace didn’t. At least I was able to find my groove and move back up. In the end I rallied to stay with the lead group but only managed 22nd on the day. Not good enough! That places me 22nd overall in the point series. On top of that I’m sore as hell tonight (aforementioned foreshadowing).

Each of these races has been like the Memorial Park 1/2/3 race. All the players are killing it up here-the same guys from last year and then some…

I would like to thank Kyle “magic hands” Davenport, Brett “Super-Duper Master Cat 2” and Angela (A hottie & pretty great person I know) for scrambling around today to ship me a set of wheels. Sugar Cycles-the sweetest shop in town!

Additionally, Travis Troxtell & Robert Biard from TX Tough/Hotel San Jose are loaning me a wheel for the interim. Lifesavers!!! Both are doing GREAT in the series as well. Travis threw down a HUGE attack today (the little bastard) and Robert helped to control the field and bring in attacks-he did a lot of work. Meanwhile I was sucking up in the rear…LOL

I know my legs will come, i just hope it's sooner rather than later.

Superweek Day #2 The Windy City

So I managed to recover from yesterday’s race pretty well i.e. very little fatigue & pain. Today I rediscovered why they call it “The WINDY City.” You guessed it-suffer-feast! The course was actually pretty lame (rectangular with the majority being up &downhill) but extremely tough, with the uphill section into the wind.

So I mentioned feeling “recovered” but that only lasted about the first 3 minutes of the race. I suffered all day long but managed to hang in and not get gapped or popped (like many others).

The officials were aggressively pulling riders deemed “out of contention” because the course was EXTREMELY SHORT. We covered 40 miles (65 LAPS). Yes, you read that correctly-we did 65 laps. That’s a first for me. The course length and layout made it extremely difficult to move up in the field (usually not a problem for me) because the downhill section (tail wind) was followed buy a very sharp right turn (a lot of braking) that forced a lot of riders to break out their cyclo-cross skills-not kidding. With 8 to go I figured if I didn’t move up it would not only cost me too many finishing spots but probably my life as well. I was right. I dropped the hammer with 8 to go (wreck in turn 1 right behind me) and then again with 4 (wreck to my left) to go and managed to slide into the top 10. In the end there were 4 crashes in the last lap-and-a-half. Have I mentioned that “wrecks are common at Superweek?”

In the end I slid into the payout/point count (top 20) at 12th place. I failed to mention that EVERYBODY sprints in the end since they pay 20 deep. There is NO "sitting up" in this series! I’m feeling much better about today’s finish…

The aforementioned crashes aside, this is really a great cyclist/racer vacation. Awake, eat, watch the tour, race my race, eat, recover, eat, sleep & repeat.

I’ve been approached by about 10-12 racers that remember me from last year (don’t know if that’s good or bad yet) and met up with some friends I made last year.

I plan on dining & possibly staying with my friend Ricardo Otero (Team Mack) later this week. Additionally, I’ll be staying with my friends Megan & Mike when I race through Wisconsin. They were the GREAT couple that hosted me for a week last year.

I’ve had my 2nd dinner so that means it’s time for more recovery-bed…

Superweek Day #1

Today’s race was in Blue Island, IL a suburb on the South side of the city. The course was pretty straight-forward 40 miles and not very technical. The field was typical for Superweek (100+) in size and aggressiveness.

I hung out mid-pack for the first 15 miles or so. There were constant attacks from some of the local Chicago/Indiana/Wisconsin teams. Several of which were stacked with 6-10 riders so it wasn’t all that hard for them to control the day. Unfortunately I wasn’t in the break that went at about the 25th mile. There were 9 away and they all had large representation in the main field. I did a lot of work at the front between mile 20-30 but NOBODY wanted to work. We managed to pull back in 4 of the 9 but fell short in the end. I hate racing for 6th!!! The finish was crazy fast and I came pretty close to ramming a narrowing barricade in the final 20 meters so I had to sit up and slide in-costing me way too many spots…

Overall it was a pretty disappointing day in terms of results (29th).
FYI-The winner today was also last years Cat 4 US. National Criterium Champion. All the players are in town…

Friday, July 11, 2008



Thanks for viewing!
Please keep in mind that I’m new to this so I can’t guarantee that you’ll actually see anything of interest, but I’ll do my best to keep you tuning in.

1 Day to Superweek…
I started the day with a leisurely in-town ride with some of my teammates. Laura aka. Crazy Mexican, Kyle “magic hands” Davenport, Angela and I all got in nice easy 2-hour spin. it was the perfect way to loosten up the legs and dispense of some pre-race jitters.

5:52 pm
George Bush Intercontinental Airport Gate A-25
Houston to Chicago

For those of you who don’t already know I’m headed to Chicago for the International Cycling Classic or “Superweek.” The event is a 16-day point race series throughout Chicagoland and Milwaukee.
The event website: http://www.internationalcycling.com/

Last year was my first trip to Superweek and it was a blast! I competed in 9 races, finished in 8 (wrecks are very common up there) and walked away in 4th place in the overall point standings. The competition is fierce, the courses are technical, the people are friendly and the fields are huge. It’s not uncommon to have 120+ in a race (did I mention there are a lot of wrecks). I highly recommend it to anybody that has the opportunity!