What the hell am I doing here? That’s what I was thinking part way through the race. I can’t say I had the best race ever. It’s not that I didn’t feel strong, I just did not ride the course well. For starters I was randomly given 51 for my number. This put me in the second to last row. Then the course had a short straight then right in to a series of turns and then the screwiest 180 hairpin turn right in front of the barriers. This lead to a total cluster at the start. There was no room in the front to let things shake out and then we hit a crazy bottle neck at the barriers. So if you weren’t at the front forget it. To be clear here, I am not saying I could have been a top finisher if I was lined up in the front row, but I’d like to feel I would have beat some guys in front of me if given a chance. But hey, them’s the breaks.
As for the rest of the course; It was held on an old golf course, so it was flat. It had a lot of tight twisty turns, some of them slick form rain earlier in the week. It had a couple long straight sections as well. Mostly on grass, with a couple sand sections thrown in. Then there was the green monster. A flyover, which is a set of stairs with a flat section on top and a ramp going down. This crossed part of the course, so you would cross under the monster , around a big left sweeper and then up the stairs and down the ramp. Wasn’t too bad. You had to clip in quick or ride the ramp unclipped, but that was doable.
In the main events of the day Katie Compton showed why she is the National Champ. She opened a can of whup-ass on the rest of the field, over a minute lead. Sue Butler and Wendy scored top 10’s I believe. In the men’s race, the first half was a four man fight of Trebon, Wicks, J-Pow and Tim Johnson. Wicks was the first to pop, then Trebon fell off. Johnson and J-pow went back and forth with J-pow taking it in the last lap. While a resurgent Wicks took Trebon for third. Adam Craig had an amazing race, starting in the fourth row and finishing 5th! So I guess I should quit my whining and just try to ride like Craig (HA HA). Unfortunately Molly crashed hard and DNF’d. She looked pretty banged up. I hope she is ok.
As for our friend Silent Bob, he got screwed by the Officials, they didn’t let him start because he had a “day license” to cover his OBRA license. The registration guy said it was a total screw-up. I am not sure how I got away with it, but I ain’t complaining. I hope they don’t try to mess with me tomorrow.
