I have to say I was not expecting anything going into this race other than a chance to race hard for as long as I could. Nothing bothered me at all this weekend which was good for a change. No worries, no bike issues, no mental issues... I just took it all in and enjoyed every moment. The weather was not a threat to me, I was ready to race no matter what, and I think many others felt the same way. I did my usual warm up and was listening to my music a bit too long and did not realize we were to line up. Not more then 5 minutes and Don said GOOOOOOOOOO!
I had a great start and avoided anyone that looked suspiciously dangerous. I think I was putting down a good pace until we hit the dreaded bottleneck which actually took me for surprise since I did not plan this into my strategy. I for sure thought this would not be a problem 2.5 miles into the race. We came to a complete HALT and I was number 50 something in the pack of I don't know how many people. It appeared that no one was moving up front, and at first I thought someone was badly hurt. I guess that was not the case, anyway... A couple of us were singing campfire songs while we waited. I finally made my way in to the single track legally, (even though I wanted to run it, I was out numbered and did not want to get called any names) and headed on my way thinking I fell back to the very back of the Sport women and had some work to do.
The glasses fogged up and came off and then I started getting sprayed with mud so I tried them back on and then off two seconds later. I basically kept my head above mud the entire race, facing skyward at every chance so that the rain would wash my face off. I even tried to ride close to the end of the trail where the trees were hanging low heavy with rain water to wipe my face clean and it worked. I guess this stuff entertained me for at least the second lap.
Going into the third was fun since I was running into peeps I usually don't see when I am racing and it made it more fun to try to catch them when they went by. I even ran into an old friend we have not seen in 4 years or so which took me by surprise. Riding with the Comp and Expert crowd was a lot of fun and motivating which kept the race interesting! I made it to the finish line hoping at least I finished under three hours.
The best part of the day was seeing everyone else having fun too, despite the rainy conditions. Those bagels sure tasted good even though I did not want to see another carb for at least a week.
I never checked the results and was surprised when I checked on line I got 12th over all. I have to say it was the endurance and thank goodness no mechicanicals or personal injuries. I am a few minutes closer to the lead, one race at a time.
Carbo loading at the Mine Co. They served up ahearty bowl of pasta and plenty of garlic bread.
Proper placement of number tag and back tag, um hum.
The sky 45 minutes prior to the start.
Last minute details 
That bottle was my savior thanks to Mikey
New beauty treatment, mud packed hair.
Picture of the dayHow would you like to have his job?
More pics here
2 comments:
Awesome job!!
I knew you could do it!!! A few more races and you could go PRO baby!! Way to eat that mud!!! Maybe I am getting too soft these days. I am liking the road all too much. I may have to buy some pink to go with the roadie lifestyle. Keep up the GREAT work out there. I will keep watching to see when it's my turn.
Later,
MTBIKIN'mama or should I change that to bikin'mama????
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