Anneke Beerten
After spending a week at the Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California, for the 2006 product launch, it was back to racing this weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the 2nd stop in the JEEP king of the mountain race series. The courses at the Jeep series are a combination of dual slalom and 4X.
It is always a pleasure to attend the JEEP races, they fly you into these nice resorts, put you in the nicest hotels and make sure you are having a good time, you pretty much feel like you're a rock star……
So, after 1 hour of practice it was time for the seeding runs. Although I didn't feel on top of my game when I woke up, it all felt a lot better after practice resulting in the 2nd fastest time.
From there on I started to feel better every run I raced. In the semi final I was up against Jill Kintner. I won the first run by 0,53 sec, so I knew I only had to stay close in the second run. I did, and finished 0,2 sec. behind Jill which qualified me for the finals.
In the finals I was up against Tara Llanes, I had a perfect first run and beat Tara by 1 sec. The second run we were side by side when Tara made a mistake at the first jump, which gave me the chance to pass her and also win the second run. This gave me my first ever JEEP series race win!!
For results and TV programming please check:www.jeepsports.com
Thumps up,Anneke Beerten
