woo hoo I survived the last race of the season in Coeur d'Alene across from the Rep Cafe. Maybe I broke the Curse of the Concertina! (knock on wood!)
Not sure what was up with me and my on/off attitude this year, just my usual neurotic self. I am glad I did it.
The plan for this race was to go as fast as I could for the first lap and and keep Hank's bright yellow Elephant in sight. Maybe that way I'd be able to put some distance between me and my main competitors for last place.
Right, that worked out real good. I was still close behind Hank's group after the beginning straightway, but after the first turn they started to pull away from me and I struggled to keep up with one guy who was struggling to keep up with them. At the end of the first lap I was dismayed to find that for all my effort, the guy in red was right on my heels, and the other 50+ year olds were getting out of reach.
Anyways, on the 3rd lap or so, my remounting technique failed me. I'd been practicing slow motion mounts earlier in the season, and unfortunately during the race I was still mounting the bike in slow motion. I practically came to a stop trying to hop back on the bike after running over the barriers, and Joel (the guy in red) sailed on past me. I caught up and passed him on the back-forty straightway, but he zipped on by me the next time over the barriers. After that, it was like the wind was knocked out of me, and my legs were gone. I finished last, but had fun.
There's a race in Sandpoint on Dec. 22nd and proceeds benefit Team Autism 24/7. If you're on Facebook, see the details on the Sandpoint Cyclocross page. In the meantime, it's back to the usual mix of biking to work and mountain biking/trail riding when I can.
Good to see you out there again, Scott. That was a fun day. Splashing through water puddles and flinging mud brings out the five year old in all of us. Too bad nobody was handing out bacon during our race.
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