Trading One Form of Torture For Another

This has been a very difficult week. First, my project at work is on the slippery slope to falling behind schedule - we have zombie bugs that won't die, a serial number fiasco and way more work to do than we'll ever fit into the time remaining before we ship. That's meant late nights and working weekends as we attempt to claw our way to an on-time release. On top of that, S has been traveling all week which leaves all the domestic duties to me. Usually, that's not enough to even make me blink but this week I've barely had enough time at home to buy groceries let alone finish the yard cleanup work that I had planned. I'm feeling pulled in way SO many different directions (does drawn and quartered seem a more appropriate term?) that my brain just won't shut off.

With all that going on, I was SO looking forward to today's race if only to push all that swirling brain stuff out and just focus on feeling my legs and lungs burn and keeping myself upright on the trails. Trade one from of torture for another. ;-)

The torture of the week was the Glocester Grind in Rhode Island. Lately, the weather has been pretty ideal New England spring happiness. Today, it more matched my mood: 40-ish, grey skies, passing showers, and a gusty wind. Blech. Arrived early enough to pre-ride half of the 5 mile course (we'd be doing two laps). WAY different than last week - a bunch of stream crossing, areas I started calling "Rock Gardens", lots of mud sections, and aluminum bridges that I was sure I was going to slide right off given the wet conditions and end up even more soaked laying in the streams underneath. Hmmmm....this should be interesting. Taped my GU to the stem (this will be an important detail later) and I was ready to roll.

Goals for this race: 1) Don't get hurt 2) Get a better start 3) Finish 4) Learn more about mtn biking.

There were 12 or so Beginner Women lined up at the start and again, we would roll about 1 min behind the 50+ men's division. I punched it at the the whistle and was third going into the woods. Probably could have been first or second but wasn't riding aggressively enough (put on list for next race's goals). Without going through a blow by blow account of the ride, let's just say I stopped counting how many times I fell on that first lap. Some of it was caused by other riders but more frequently is was me just slipping in mud, bouncing on rocks, sliding on wet roots. Almost endo'ed in one huge, water-filled hole that I believe was bottomless. And despite all that, it totally rocked! (no pun intended). With all that falling, I was still ahead of most women, and behind at least three. Started targeting them and picking them off.

Here's where an amusing (for others, perhaps) thing occurred. Sometime during that "Lap o'Crashes" I managed to fall on the top tube/stem (I think it was the Endo That Almost Was). Ouchie! For those of you reading closely, you may remember that that was where my GU was taped. So, yes, unbeknownst to me, the GU exploded all over my shorts and bike. It wasn't until I tried to figure out why my fingers where sticking to the bars like a gecko that I realized it. That was also the time I started getting hungry. Great...this race is going to be 1.5 hrs and I have no GU. Not happy. Thought goes through my mind, "Would it be bad if I stopped to lick the GU off my bike?"

By the end of the first lap, I was the 2nd woman, making progress against the leader but could never quite get there. I was starting to pick up some of the men (7 total by the end). It became a game of "Pick a jersey and catch 'em". Around the end of the first lap, I passed one of the men and while I was quicker than him on the dirt, he was better technically. I yielded the trail to him and then followed his wheel. Wow! Best way to learn. He encouraged me through some of the gnarlier sections and somehow things just clicked. Got more relaxed, more confident and it showed on the second lap where didn't crash at all. Nice!

Finished the race, changed and then checked the results. 1st Place, Baby! (ok, in my age group but 2nd woman overall) Yeah! Sweet! Happy Dance!

I think I managed to accomplish all my goals but that depends on your definition of hurt. Mine, BTW, is "season impacting injury" so the gash below doesn't count but it makes me feel like a real mountain biker!