When I realized my mistake I attempted to not register for the race. This lasted for about 15 minutes until my friend Becky realized I didn't have a number and marched me back over to the registration tent. doh. I spent the next 45 minutes in gut-wrenching anxiety worrying about whether or not I would make it up the hill in one gear.
The race actually turned out surprisingly well for me! I benefited a lot from the fact that there were some really rough, rutty sections of trail that a lot of girls slowed WAY down for so I was able to put some distance on them through those sections. I didn't make it up the big hill the first time around due to congestion - but once the pack got thinned out a bit and I was able to hold my momentum I was able to stay on my bike for the entire hill for all the remaining laps. Overall I finished 16th out of 50-something - which is a great result for me (I think last year I was usually around 27th). Overall I was thankful Becky caught me trying to skirt out of the race.
Here I am, gasping at the top of the hill. I am glad I'm wearing sunglasses so you can't see how bad my 'pain face' actually is.
My friend, Emilia, is in the yellow shirt running the barriers. This was her second Cx race ever! She's a real trooper - so far she's hurt herself badly enough to not be able to ride TWICE - but she keeps getting out there and trying again. She's going to be great!
I'm a tech weenie and can't figure out/don't want to spend the time figuring out how to enlarge these pictures. If you can see them - great!
you women are so tough!!!! and great photos, too.
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