The debut for Reed's team either went swimmingly or tanked, depending on the full or empty status of the glass to the keen mind of the observer. A fifth. A solid fifth. For some riders, it's like winning a championship. For others, keep the razor blades away for the next week or so. Usually, Chad's status would be the latter. The guy has established in past years that he's here to win, that's all there is to it. But now he's going it alone, and to top it all off he's got a kid now. I feel like there should be a parents class even in the pro ranks. It has to be such a bummer, to have kids. Yeah, I know, miracle of children and all that nonsense, but come on. Kids are pretty much an omnipresent distraction. No matter what, you've got a kid now, a little life that it is your responsibility to provide for and nurture so he doesn't appear on the Jerry Springer Reunion episode of "I'm addicted to crack, violence, and Japanese cartoon porn". Everyone on the gate with a kid is sweating that 30 second board going sideways a little more than the rest, and that has to suck.
Anyway, Reed finished fifth, and to be honest, that's about where I had him pegged to finish. I'd say the over-under on him was right there, position numero cinqo. Not thoroughly impressive, but enough for you to barely hear him from way out there in the cheap seats of the top 5. I just feel like he's a fifth place kind of guy now. Maybe he'll squeeze out a fourth or even a third, but odds are that will be canceled out by a couple of sixths, maybe a seventh. That's the Reed bell curve, and any serious deviation from that range, and people might start talking. Reed seemed pretty happy about it all, which you could call optimistic or sad, again depending on your personal bias of the matter.
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