We had our first set of circuit races here in Königssee this weekend, and the result was ... well, to be perfectly honest ... it was pretty sweet. I think the brilliance that is my second-place-trophy-slash-candy-dish says it all ...

Actually, I am just stoked that the glare from my trophy is blurring my face and partially concealing the fact that my German competition is, oh I don't know, HALF MY AGE. No. Seriously. When I was busy wearing flannel shirts and ripped jeans to grade 11 math class, these girls were busy BEING BORN. They might as well just hammer a lid on my sled, call it a coffin and when I come up the outrun just shoot me into my grave.

My McPartner in Crime, Micaela (get it? MIChelle ... and MICaela ... MicPartner ... McPartner ... get it?!?) made her Europa Cup debut with a very respectable sixth place finish ...

On day two, race two, riding on a beer bet with Sophia Griebel, who beat me out on the first day (GRRRRRIEBEL!) I managed to move up a spot after run one, but wasn't able to pull ahead of her (GRRRRRIEBEL!) and finished in second place again. But really ... who has space in their luggage for all those giant first-place trophies anyways ... ?

On the upside, I wasn't forced to fulfill the team agreement of "Win to swim" which would have required me to jump into the freezing cold lake at the bottom of the track. Although, if truth be told, there is a slight possibility that I may have raced wearing my bathing suit underneath my speedsuit ...

In summary and in conclusion ... I think the German scenary looks MUCH better now ...

And yes, in case you were wondering, I did fill both of my trophy-slash-candy-dishes up with an assortment of gummy bears and chocolates. Duh.