Diary

October 29, 2001

October 29, 2001- Hello everyone… well, if I still have anyone out there reading my website. It has been a long time since I last wrote and a lot has happened. I guess I will start with my final race, the world's in Vail, Colorado. It was a very tough weekend emotionally with all that had happened in New York and Washington D.C. But I along with many other US racers chose to dig deep and put some medals on the table for Team USA. It was not the retirement weekend I expected, but I definitely was stoked my family and some good friends were there to share my final race day with me. I finally was able to stand back on the podium at the World's when I placed 3rd in the Downhill. It was such a rush to be standing next to Anne in which would be my final podium appearance. Also sharing that podium with new downhill sensation Fionn Griffiths placing 2nd, I felt at 29 I held my own with these young chicks. I really can't express my emotions, but they were on a level of full satisfaction of my career and complete happiness to be a part of the awards ceremony.

As for after the world's, my world has sort of come crumbling down, a little quicker than I had expected and unfortunately with no real job to speak of yet. I guess when . stopped our paychecks in September; it sort of put my job search full-speed ahead. I have had a few leads, but at this moment nothing has amounted to anything. Mountain Bike magazine seems interested in having me do a column on there web-site, which caught me off guard because I really have never thought about writing for a magazine or another website. I guess it could be fun and keep me involved with biking, my first love. I really appreciate all the support I have gotten over the years and just wanted to say thanks to my true friends and fans of the sport, it's because of you I still want to be out there. Keep the spirit alive and I promise to pull my head out of my booty and get a "real" job! Happy trails!

September 7, 2001

I am here in Colorado, Stik and I had a nice trip out and made it a 3-day trip getting to my sisters in Longmont. Yesterday we woke in Vail and it was pretty cold. The night before there was a lot of rain and as we were leaving yesterday the town was expecting 3 inches of snow by today. Crazy huh? I am hoping that the bad weather is coming early so it can be nice for us next weekend… Wishful thinking probably, but I'll stick with it. I did walk both the Downhill and the Dual yesterday and they both are pretty awesome. The Dual is by far the best spectator friendly course I have seen and I think the riders are all going to just love it. The jumps are big, but not ridiculous and the course is just beautifully groomed. Eric Carter was the designer and laborer on this project and I think we all will be thanking him for all his hard efforts. The downhill is pretty tough (as usual), but will make for great racing. A few drop offs that are pretty hairy and some off camber stuff that even off camber masters will have a tough time negotiating. After seeing the courses I am really looking forward to getting back on my bike. That's all for now, just going to enjoy spending some time with my sister and her boyfriend and getting some rest before the final race of my career. Later!

September 4, 2001

Well long time no write eh? Sorry about that, but the season just got hectic and when I was away from it I guess I didn't want to have to write about it. 13 weeks of racing in row was a lot, and racing both the Downhill and the Dual events put me at 27 races for those 13 weeks. Needless to say I was over it! Now I have had 1 week at home and am starting to feel alive again, my body is still tired but at least my mind is starting to work again. It was a really good season and for all of you who wrote to me I just wanted to say thanks again for all your words of encouragement, you wouldn't believe how much that helped. As for today, I am actually tying up a few loose ends and Stikman and I are getting back in the saddle and starting our trip to Vail, Colorado tonight. We are actually going to visit my sister and her boyfriend for a few days (she lives in Longmont, CO), I really don't see her much so I am looking forward to visiting with them. As for keeping up with my journal, I will do my best to keep you posted on the events at Vail. Until the next journal update!
Happy trails, Leigh D.

June 14, 2001
Walked the Downhill today in Vars and was excited about racing a new course. The course is not exactly gnarly, but is in its own right technical. It tends to share some of the same traits as many of the French courses, but maybe even a little easier. I mean that is what the general consensus is, I personally found it to be pretty challenging and am looking forward to practice tomorrow. The weather has been just beautiful today, but the weather report shows rain for the weekend. Rain sucks bottom line, so much clean up, so much wasted time on everyone's part to just race. I know its just part of the sport, but I am always hopeful that we will race in good weather. I guess someone's got to be positive. Anyhow, I really like it here and will tell you more when I have more to tell.

June 13, 2001
Left the south of France this afternoon, off to Vars, France the second stop of the World Cup. I was told this place was kind of roachy, but to my surprise it is quite the opposite. It is so serene here; I can hear the stream running that runs through town from my hotel window. I am happy! The dinner here was amazing too. The hotel's name is Le Caribou, which I believe means Elk or Deer or something like that. Anyhow, I walked through town tonight and checked out the pits. I am really enjoying my trip over here in Europe. Catch you tomorrow.

June 12, 2001
Hanging in the south of France today, I guess my job isn't so bad after all. It pretty cool here, but I am still so tired and hurting from the weekend that I am having a hard time relaxing. I did manage to go to the beach and get a little sunburn; I hope it will turn to a tan since it has been like 8 years since my backside has seen the sun. I love our apartment, it is so cool to not be in a hotel for a change (we are always in hotels in Europe). The food here has so far sucked though, so tonight I just ate Salami, Swiss cheese and some baguette. I actually eat that at home sometimes so it was not a big deal. I am pretty tired so I am going to hit the hay.

June 11, 2001
Left Slovenia this morning and boarded a couple of flights to get the Marseille, France. Wow this place is beautiful! The French Riviera is pretty awesome. I have never been to this location before and am pleasantly surprised at how much I love it. I always love the beach that is why I live by one, but this place is peaceful too. I don't get that too much when I am over here so I am going to enjoy this area for a few days. I am traveling with Laura K Houseman (team manager), Stikman (crazy guy), Eric Carter (you know him), and Drew Carver (EC's mechanic, also known as the Dancing machine). We found this great apartment and are all just chilling together. I am pretty tired from a hard weekend, and since I just got home from eating my dinner (11:45PM) I need to sleep.

June 10, 2001
Another great weekend for me, and I am still surprised. It was pretty awesome leaving Slovenia after racing there 3 times and my worst result was 3rd in the Dual back in 1999. I guess this place just agrees with me. I really enjoyed racing this weekend and I found that my competitors were happy for me too being my last season and all. The race was crazy and I couldn't even believe how fast we were going down this course. I look back after doing it and am just blown away at how fast the racers are. Even though I had a great weekend, I can't forget to mention that my good friend Michael Ronning placed 9th in the men's class and I was so proud of him for that. I love to see good people achieve their goals. Well I am going out now to hopefully hang with Steve Peat the other stud that actually "Won" today.

June 9, 2001
Long, long, long day. I can not imagine doing this for 11 more weeks in a row, but I will be. We arrived at the race course at 8:30 am practice DH then at 4pm Dual Practice started. We finally started racing the Dual at a little after 8pm. Thank god the fans rocked here because I was losing my stamina, but they kept me rocking. I rode well tonight and actually had a gnarly battle with Tara Llanes in the semi-final. We were both just going for it and I think we hit eachother like 3 or 4 times. I have never had that kind of contact while racing the Dual, but after racing a BMX race this winter I got a little more prepared for the close Dual battles. I placed 2nd to Anne tonight, and I almost could have had her if she would have just made a bigger mistake but she didn't. Anyhow, she is way cool and If I can just beat her that will make my season, if not I admire the hell out of her and am just stoked to stand next to her on the podium. By the way I am now writing this at 12:30 pm and am planning on heading over to race tomorrow or should I say today at 8am. I need to sleep! Night!!!

June 6, 2001
Just arrived in Slovenia, after a very great day of travel. No we didn't get upgraded, but all our flights were on time and "all" our luggage was at our final destination. That is as good as it gets in my book… minus the stinky guy across the aisle from myself and Laura K. We were welcomed into Slovenia with some wonderful rain showers… I loved it! I actually like the rain, I just don't like to drive or race in it. As for our hotel, well it's not what we would consider great housing, but with some of our friends here it won't be too bad. That's it for today, good night.

June 7, 2001
Slept through the night which is unusual, but then I am sort of unusual. I usually dread the breakfast here, but I brought my own food over this trip and finally enjoyed eating breakfast for a change. It has only taken me 8 years of travel over here to finally get the clue and bring my own stuff. Walked the course this afternoon, the course is a little faster than last year and the jumps a little bigger and sketchier. I hope the changes will still have me liking the course. That's pretty much it, I am a little bit on the loner side today, so I am signing off now.

June 3, 2001
I woke up pretty early this morning 4 am to be exact… my little girl (dog) Star needed to go potty. So I was forced to get up and take both my dogs out. I tried to get Stik to, but I think he thinks he the racer sometimes and he needs the rest more than me… Whatever, anyhow my dogs took off and it was actually pretty funny. I did go back to sleep however and the second time I got up I headed off the race the Downhill at Snow Summit. National #1. Needless to say I did not win, but I felt great I just didn't stay upright. I did place 8th which I guess could be respectable for an old betty like myself (kidding). Marla Streb won, which was cool for her because I think she has worked so hard this past winter and I feel people who work hard deserve to feel the prize of a win. On another note, I was a little sad today because it was my last time to race the Downhill at Big Bear. I love the mountain and I love the Crew with Team big bear! My "entire" family was there also to cheer me on, it was pretty cool. Talk with you from Slovenia.

June 2, 2001
National # 1 Dual Slalom… I won it! I can't say I expected to win today, because I had a pretty hard crash yesterday my first run of DS practice and was extremely scared of the course. But today was not yesterday and I just turned my mind around and decided to just race for the win. This was my first ever win in 1993 and I wanted to win here being my last race at the Big Bear DS and all. The fans were electric tonight and it definitely made the racing more exciting and my attitude more positive. My team rocks this year and I just have to say thanks to them for all there help. More to come tomorrow.