state champ

Today was the North Carolina and South Carolina state finals in Lexington SC. It wasn't a race series that I was really into until Jamie pointed out to me that we both had a chance at getting #1 finishes if we raced the final.
This morning I packed my stuff into Jamie's car and I hit the road with him and his two kids, Josie and Jack whom, I am convinced, are angels in disguise. I had to drive the 2 1/2 hours since Jamie recently broke his collar bone at the Hendersonville race last weekend.
We get to the track and my god it is beautiful. The entire thing is very well kept and is smooth as all gid-up since it was made of truck loads of dirt that are of the same consistency as baseball fields. Practice starts at noon and it turns out that the track is just as fun to ride as it is to look at. We all find our lines that suit our respective riding styles best and the races start.
It turns out that I am in the running for #1 with another guy named Brian who is a really nice guy. We spent a lot of today talking about bikes and family and all of the good and bad things in life. For example, he told me about some very bad burns that he got on his legs while trying to start a fire with gasoline. He hasn't been able to ride for the past four weeks because of the burns. Just another example that the easiest way to do things sometimes isn't the best way to do things.
But anyway, we are racing each other for the state #1 plate and the first moto starts off very heated. Into the first turn I am a wheel ahead of him and he pushes me way up and out almost off the track. But I stay on the pedals and focus on being smooth and pull past him into the second turn and hold the lead all of the way to the end.
The rest of our motos are actually pretty anti-climatic in that he didn't have enough gas to stay fresh for his motos and I pull ahead by sizable leads in every moto and take the W for the day.
So I am the state champion in the 25-29 cruiser class. cool, eh?