I was sitting on the fence about this race all week, not sure if I was going to do it or sit it out and go for a long road ride. The night before I decided I would go for it. Tried to rally Bill to go, but he was ambivalent about getting up early for the race. There were two long stretches on the beach, which I was not looking forward to, as I loose a lot of time on run ups which are really hard for me after riding all out.
Got mixed up w/ some bad google maps directions, but found the park and had enough time for a pre race lap. Lots of little hills on this one, all except one of which could be ridden. I knew this was going to hurt, as I was pretty dehydrated and hungover from a late dinner party with friends. I was determined to just sit in on the back and take it easy.
Race started and immediately there was some aggressive passing going on. I was near the tail, so not sure why the urgency. About 600 meters in, out of the corner of my eye, I saw two guys take each other out. Rider on my right said "that was grim." Ended up talking with one of the guys after the race, someone tried to pass on the outside, ran into a lamp post, and took them both out. But they were both OK.
30 minute race, and a farily long course, so we were going to do 3 laps. There was a long stretch on the beach, around some paths in the woods, then back the other side of the beach. It had rained a bit the day before, so the sand was a bit compacted and was rideable most of the time. Sometimes someone ahead would loose traction and stop, which would force you out of the pedals, but later in the race when you were on your own, you could just keep it in a big gear and power throug it.
As the race went on, I was super thirsty, but was catching and passing a rider every now and then. But most of the race I was out on my own toward the back, which was fine. Eventually I heard the announcer calling last lap, and I had yet to get lapped, which was cool. Crossed the line 61 out of 71 racers, which I was pretty happy about given my condition. No crashes, had fun and was not DFL, which I feared as I was not riding at my best.
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