Well, the track opened this week and I went down (right side up, thank you very much. DAD.) for the first time since Nationals in March (ummm ... which was not as right side up ... )

I was a little nervous, you know, in that on-my-god-I-am-going-to-die-I-think-I-am-going-to-throw-up-what-the-hell-am-I-doing kind of way. Since my final run of last season ended, umm ... upside down, I have spent the entire summer reliving that wonderful moment over and over late at night while lying in bed. So on my first few run, the goal was to just work out the butterflies.

I think it was a really good sign when, on my very first run, on the first corner (out of 14), the first thought that crossed my mind was: OH MY GOD, THIS IS FREAKIN' FAST. I was going about, oh maybe 40 kph. Let me refresh your memory. I generally clock around 115 kph on this track.

But I made it down in one piece. I had a bit of a fight with my friend corner 9 which resulted in a few bruises. I like to think of it more as an opportunity to check where I should be putting padding.

Now I know.