27 August 2009 - 2:25End of Summer?

For the longest time, since we moved back from CA to VT, summer was always measured in Wednesday night races at Catamount.

Today was not only the boy’s first day of Kindergarden, tonight was the last race of the summer. Our group (3 lap) left just after the sun dropped below the horizon. As it was the last race, all the supporting shops were present to offer tech support to those that needed it, but you could tell the general atmosphere of the race was different. Looser. Attitudes were more cordial amongst season long rivals, and all the racers were definitely relaxed. Tech support was not needed. And neither was my EZ-Up, it was a lot windy at pit time, and I had lost my anchor spikes a few years ago. It achieved a distance of about 6 feet of unpowered flight tonight.

We all just kind of hung out. It was great. It was a fun evening of beer, smack talk and cowbell for those suffering the rotten hill side course. The air was crisp and fall like, I was smart and brought a sweatshirt.

I’m not sure if I’m getting nostalgic in my old age, but, I realized the biggest change tonight.

While there are only a few of the original crew still hanging out after the race, there were a lot more kids tearing around, our own kids. And while there are a few new faces, it really seemed like this was the last “great race” of the summer.

Fall is coming.

We are blessed with such a short and brilliant summer here in VT. Capture the best of it while you can.