the results are up

and well 200 points is 200 points.

yes it does seem i was pretty darn slow. not many people finished behind me. But talk about a course absolutely NOT suited for me at the moment. It kinda stinks having the time telling me that well... yes, that ain't so good. Lap times 11 minute slower than my 2nd place Expert team mate. I kept having the thought: "am i really racing" well yes and no. I was racing to finish in a small field. I was racing w/in the sport women's group. I wasn't pitted against the Sport Vets. I was pushing myself. And it was only enough of a push to finish it seemed. The constant thought of "I can go faster! RIDE AT YOUR LIMIT" was tempered with, "hey chill, Denis ain't in sight, if he catches you THEN you can start the panic gun it racing." For a mechanical free race it was a crazy challenge. I wasn't gassed at the end. I felt like I could have ridden another three laps (good sign for Great Glen maybe). Probably not any faster with that course though. I did get better on a few sections the final time through. Thom's mention of doing the whole cyclocross dismount pre-unridable bone yard definitely was the way to go. But I still tried to ride a few more sections than I should have, for a while I did run each time I got off the bike, then with the ribs aching and the pressure for a placing not there, it was easier to just walk some sections. Risk/Reward. I'm pretty sure the lap time would have been much faster given a bit more pressure. At the start Denis and I kinda looked at each other and then we let the bulk of the women get off in front of us, him more than me. We both had respect foremost it seemed. No need to be giant (literally) pains in another field's race. I let a good handful of them go off without me mixing it up. Me passing here or there, or when one would catch up as I stuffed myself or something, being sure NOT to impede their progress at all. A gentlemanly way to race I guess was my motto for the day. Finish. Try to beat Dennis. But don't negatively impact the other racers. In a way I guess I'm trying to make myself feel better about the pretty dismal time. The technical sections made King of Burlingame look pretty easy... at least in my mind. The KOB stuff I could see a line, I just couldn't nail. At the Grind, even after seeing it twice, me and my bike weren't making it through. It just seemed that either my tires would slide off on the wet roots, or get stuck in holes and I just couldn't get through it. Getting back on and going again isn't easy on one of the highest bottom bracket designed bikes + full suspension. A 2-3 inch higher BB than the Giant or the Croll. Maybe the Hard tail would have been slightly faster. Didn't matter much, the full suspension did definitely help the bruised ribs survive with minimal pain. Lots of ifs. Fortunately and happily I can say I won. The Mantra is a pretty poor choice for a race that requires lots of getting on and off the bike. It is far better suited to a race where you just go from start to finish, not getting off, and for races with extended bumpy (but not Grind babyhead unridable style) climbs. Courses like that have me seriously thinking a 29r is the right choice - regardless of rider size/weight. Just based on the larger diameter and fewer holes to drop the wheel into. But still bottom line. I need some more practice on that stuff. WAY more practice. And even with the challenges and the slowness presented in that race, it was wicked damn hella fun. A good handful of cross racers were representing there too.

It would just be nice to have these ribs of mine heal up. Man do they hurt like a monster sumbitch. Pain is diminishing. That's a good thing.

And whew - my eyes started glazing over when i tried to proof read the above just now. Eff that i be hitting pube-lish and suffer whatever consequences of confusion might arise from that action.

At least it isn't raining here yet. Dry skies on the radar. Best not to dally.

heddwch
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