encouraging wasn't the first word that entered my mind. not supportive, uplifting, or admiration. it was something else. and i didn't like it.

in my race last saturday, there were 4-5 chutes on the downhill course. a 'chute' constitutes a sudden, usually ridiculous drop in altitude on the course (read: a cliff), ranging anywhere from 8-15 feet (read: it gets your attention). now, 2 of these particular chutes were infested with these enormous ruts. ruts are annoying because if you go in them, you must stay perfectly straight within the line, or you'll pitch. launching down this little cliff, and having to deal with a rut is a whole other task. landing inside and balancing within a rut at a relatively high speed, and your raising the risk having your teeth polished by dirt two- or three-fold.

anyway, out of the entire course, the only 2 places spectators were camped out at were these 2 special drop-offs. mind you, this is not a easy, or even comfortable, place to be.

on a cliff, i mean. on the side of a hill. in the brush.

now, the WHOLE issue i have with this isn't the fact that the were even there. i mean, it's cool to have people along the way, cheering you on, checking you out, jumping out of your way, etc.
it was the reason why they were there...

they just wanted to see me go over the bars..