At last, indeed

I have loved Jackson Park ever since I arrived in Chicago in 1981.  In the eighties I played & coached countless soccer matches there.  Sunday mornings in summer I represented the illustrious Hyde Park club El Gringo Es Mandingo in the Third World Soccer League, and I coached the Mount Carmel Caravan JV squad in Jax Pk.  But that was another sport & another century.

Kudos to XXX Racing for making the very best of the pitifully small bit of the park allotted to us for this year's relay & series opener.  I like the twisty courses XXX always lays down.  Well, in spite of what I consider home field advantage & a successful relay with Scott a few weeks ago, I had a miserable series opener.  I started well & was in 3rd position for the 1st half of lap 1, then wiped out in turn 17 (or so).  The hard chase revealed that I'd over-estimated my fitness anyway, and then I stacked it into the double barriers on the penultimate lap.  Thanks to Matt Caron for his encouragement, his sage advice, and for capturing the moment.



Still, it was a blast to race with my 40+ cronies again, 80 of us in all.  I finished 13th.

And it was great to see so many colleagues & teammates racing well.  Congratulations to Bill, Rachael, Rachel, Dan, and David.  Big props to Tim, Richard, & Ellen for claiming front-row positions in DeKalb.  And to Scott for bringing home a handsome new jersey.