Pittsfield Short Track
(On the road again, but Dan is driving)

March 5th 2005, we head to North Adams, Mass for a day of short track. The meet starts at 2:00 so we don't leave until about 10:15, Dan is driving.
Justin, Chris, Matt and Andrew are skating today and the mood is the usual light hearted with a side of tension, but somehow I think riding together is helping them keep their feelings in check.
We start out by hitting traffic on Route 22 and the kids are ready to bail, all thinking the worst about getting there on time. Taking a detour though Thunder Bump saved us about 15 Minutes and once we pass through the light at 311 we were on our way.
We arrived with 15 minutes to spare before warm-ups, checked in, and got the kids situated.
Chris barely had competition, Justin was in a field of 5, Matt skated against 3, and Andrew about 5. All in all the boys really had to work hard (except for Chris - he had to work hard at keeping his head in the race, it was that easy- he had to remember that anything can happen in Short track)
Justin started the day, event number 3, by hitting the boards with his head and his face with the ice. He got off the ice bleeding and beaten, but determined to go on. His next two races were just as much of a challenge, he fell quite a few times. I actually had to take him to the ER this morning because his face was so sore. No big deal, he was fine. His biggest complaint about the day was skating behind the snow cone machine. He needed windsheild wipers.
Chris's day was interesting. He skated as if it were a time trial, because he was able to LAP his competition quite easily. He almost fell on his last race, I think he had his eye on the prize rather than his head in the game.
Matt had some serious competition, mostly just from one skater. David has gone quite far this year, and is equally paired with Matt. A new SWC/Taconic match-up. I guess there will always be one. Matt skated each race almost flawlessly, he looked back to much. He must have sensed David right on his heels.
Andrew had to fight his way to the top, despite looking totally on top of his game. He had one third, one first, and one second. His main competition got DQ'd the first race so gained no points, leaving Andrew to skate into the lead.
The main "thrill of the day" was seeing Trevor skate 9.5 second laps, showing the crowd just how well he is healing.
After the meet ew headed out to dinner with Dave. Pizza, salads, etc, etc. We had such a great time. The way home led us astray at one point, the boys tagged some dumpsters simultaneously, and we managed the trip in 3hrs despite the detour.
THREE GOLDS and a bunch of bruises...lots of laughs and great company.
ON to Newbugh next week! See you on the ice!