It was pretty windy, chilly, although warm when the sun was out. It looked like a fun course, wide open, muddy, 1 major sustained climb. I looked forward to having a good time, but not really trying to “race”. I started out really strong, I’ve gotten really good at shooting out before anyone else. However, I was way in the wrong gear, because I was trying to stay in the little ring for the climbs ahead. But it slowed me down, so I switched to the middle ring eventually (after everyone had passed me). I was having a good time, but then I discovered why there’s such a thing as a cross frame. There’s very little clearance between my tire and my frame/brakes. So the back half of the course was pretty thick with sticky mud, which immediatly got jammed and made my wheels almost impossible to move. I ended up having to run much of the back course, and after the run up I would push out all the mud chunks. I’m glad I wasn’t really racing, I would have been really pissed off by this. Hopefully the next time it’s muddy, it’s also rainy, so it can wash out what mud does stick. I look forward to Astoria! I’m considering riding both the single speed and the women’s cats, if i can use the same # for both.
Oh, a little tip. I was just about to line up, when a team mate suggested I use warming gel on my legs since it was a bit chilly. So I went ahead and put it on and pulled back on my knee warmers. I didn’t really notice it took much until going up the last steep hill…suddenly my quads were ON FIRE. And not just lactic acid burn, but like chemical burning. OW. Apparently if you use warming gel, you aren’t supposed to put warmers on over it. Creates something like a diaper rash effect. Yeah, it sucks.
