Yesterday afternoon I went out to the WA County Fair Grounds and raced in Cross Crusade #4. (And yes, if you've been reading the blog, that DOES mean I did two races yesterday. I'm pooped!) I barely made it out to the race course, got changed, registered, rode up and down the parking lot a couple times and then rolled up to the start line.
This was the first race of the season that was muddy and boy was it fun! There were places on the course where my tires really wanted to stick - it was great. Lots of corners meant there were plenty of opportunities to lose the rear of your bike - and I definitely did that once! Went down hard on my side on a slick, hard, muddy corner (my friend, Sarah's, husband Michael has a GREAT series of photos capturing my spill - if I can get them from her I'll post them).
Overall I think I ended up 17th out of about 50. I am pretty happy with that finish, although I was passed by two girls right at the end which I'm a little frustrated I let happen, but what can you do?
Here's a picture a teammate snapped of me out on the course. This shot is up on Facebook and I am absolutely HORRIFIED to see how mean my face is! Terrible! I hope I don't sound that mean when I tell people I'm passing them on their left! I honestly have no idea what I was doing here...I'm trying to remember if anyone shoved me yesterday or pushed me off course, but I honestly don't think I have any good reason to look so angry. I will work on smiling more next time. =)
Photo by Casey Arendt (fellow BTV racer)This is a shot from the backside of the course coming out of one of the deeper mud sections. I still look like the riding hurts, but at least I'm not scowling in this picture!
Photo by OregonVelo
That look is perfect, you should keep it. You will scare your competition!
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