Bike Race! So fun!

E. and I had a bit of a late start getting out the door, because he worked until 3 a.m. and the dog was sounding sick this morning and we decided to take poor Major Tom with us, which required a slight change in packing plans. We didn't have a lot of time to test ride the course, use the bathroom, etc., but I tried to get done as much as I need to in the time permitted in between the race before mine and the call to line up. At the very beginning of the course was a wooded section that dropped out with this steep and pitted dry dirt wall, a hill swooping down into a few turns that brought you straight to a right turn dismount for a double barrier run-up. We were still chatting when we came to the drop, and I tried a few times to ride it, getting more panicked as my attempts failed, until E. finally encouraged me to just come down and ride the rest of the course to see what else to expect. we ran up the barrier run-up, rode some of the twists and turns through the field, through the wooded sections that included a steep ride-up, and then the sand-pit which I chose to run through rather than try to sludge with my bicycle. I started having an anxiety attack, my nerves of the race bringing on the ignored feelings of loss and regret in the mourning of my recently departed friend, Max.

The field is called to the line, so I cut through the tape and rolled down the last steep downhill section, this one mudded and soft.I'd managed to stop my hyperventilation, and E. hands me water and some goo to try and up my sugar levels, since I also hadn't eaten much and needed some energy to burn. I felt like I was going to throw up, a bad combination of nerve and not being able to reach the bathroom in time. I want to pull out, but Colin, our team sponsor, paid for my entry fee and I didn't want to waste his money. I also didn't want to let my team down, or E., or myself, and knew that if I bailed on this race, it would set a precedent for choosing the easy, shameful way out.

As my field approached that first steep downhill I'd failed to ride just minutes before, my heart was thumping and I knew I needed to either ride down it or quit the race. The rest of the field had ridden it successfully, and if I was going to dismount at every lap, ride 50 feet, and dismount again for the barriers, I would lose. I also would be missing an important aspect of the course, something that the promotors put a lot of time into developing for our enjoyment.

All this was in my head as I suddenly remembered, I'm a mountain biker, dummy. What do mountain bikers do? We don't look down. So I rode through with the pack, and it was actually wicked fun. I cut through the turns and had a sloppy dismount up to the barriers. Basically, I am like Zoolander where I can't turn right and it is an almost fatal flaw. Stack that with a dismount and I'm toast, baby.

The rest of the course was a blast. I rode everything I could and made a conscious decision to not attempt the sand, seeing multiple people get stuck halfway through and stumble off their bikes in the sand. I'm a pretty quick running so it wasn't an issue for me, even though there was immediately another hill to climb. I'm happy that E. took the time yesterday to practice dismounts and remounts, because at the sand pit it really helped, even though my dismount and remount at the barriers was still pretty embarrassing. All things in practice. 

Also, I got 5th! Podium! I also got $15 and a pair of socks. And, there was free beer and coleslaw. So, really, I was already winning.

Tomorrow is another race, part of the Month of Mud series. Here goes!