After a long jump into Banff the journey down to Colorado was pretty un-eventful but long. We knew full well that this was the toughest part of the long road trip. We had to be back to Copper to race the last stop of the Holeshot tour/NorAmCup/USASA Nationals. This was not ideal as we were supposed to have been racing a World Cup, and multiple NorAm stops in Squaw but the lack of snow through a damper on those well laid plans.
The course at Copper was less than ideal when we first showed up. A first feature that shot you to the flats, and the remainder being a wide open banked slalom with little to no features. It was anyone’s game and put us all into some tight racing scenarios. 4 pack racing throughout the course could have made for some great spectator racing, however, miscommunications and lack of accessibility to foot traffic had very few people attending. In a sport where excitement lays throughout, and TV viewing is always high, our organizing bodies need to look into better media coverage for events. It is all well and good that the Grand Prix gets televised every 2 years or so, and the Olympics have it, and IF the US holds a World Cup that will get a TV spotlight. However, there are many more events globally and domestically which could fuel the sport and the amount of money being pumped into it through sponsorships/endorsements.
After making it into the second round I found myself out after a bad turn and packing my bags. This is when crunch time came. The next race was a short 2 days drive away with 1500 miles to cover. We decided to hit the road hard, Copper to Salt Lake that night, up in the morning up to Post Falls, ID, and finally push onto Big White Canada. The drive was long but the scenery was great. Once in Big White weather had plagued us here all season long and this was no different. We had a course built for the public and a start section that was set to host a kindergarten race. None of us were too impressed and actually laughing at how slow it was. Well the boards didn’t run, and turn 4’s ruts put me down. I was not pleased but finished out another season on the NorAm Cup.
The journey back to Texas saw us drive through Washington, Oregon, Cali, Arizona, New Mexico, and Finally across Texas. We were able to take our time and see some of the great parts of the states. The Pacific Coast Highway, The Redwood Forest, San Francisco, Yosemite and highways for miles.
