I had the day off on Friday, which meant I rode my bike. It was a sunny cool day, and I just acquired a fancy new road bike that still has that rocketship feel, so I rode it way too far - up to Point Reyes - which is a much longer ride than I've been accustomed to lately, as most of my rides have been short intense efforts after work.
After that, going into this race on Sunday, I was a little nervous that my legs wouldn't have much juice left. Manzanita Park was also a long haul for me from SF for a 45-minute race, but I decided to spend the weekend in Santa Cruz, did some hiking around on Saturday and then camped out Saturday night, and that made it worth the drive. I felt sluggish during my warm-up, and when the race began, I prepared for the pain. Surprisingly, it didn't come...in fact, the first lap felt slow, and although I wasn't leading, i was close to the front, and wondering what the heck was going on. The pain did eventually come, as it always does, but this time not until about lap 3 of 5. This was when leaders slowly pulled away, but I felt pretty solid riding in the top 10.
Meanwhile, things got ugly for a few unlucky folks - someone washed out in a turn and reportedly broke an ankle, while another rider lost control and went head-first into a wooden fence post. Crashes are pretty common in cross races, but usually involve nothing more than scrapes and bruised bodies/egos - but sadly today two guys carted off in ambulances. I wish them both speedy recoveries. The course was re-routed temporarily around one of the downed riders, and it caught be by surprise and I ended up with a facefull of dirt, but luckily nothing more serious.
I finished in 8th, and was happy that both bike and body were in one piece.
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