It started out an early day. I got to Estacada at about 8am to see my boyfriend do his first race ever (see above); he had his single speed mountain bike de-commuter-ized and ready to go. He went out hard, and got a very respectable 36th out of 86 beginner men!
I had a fun day watching everyone push their way through the sticky mud that was formed from previous days of rain. By the time the women rode at 1pm, with the intermittent sun and wind that day, much of the course had dried out, most notably the two hairy off-cambered parts in the “bowl”, which we had to go in and out of 3 times on each lap. But most of the rest of the course was still thick with mud, which made it fun and challenging. The course would’ve been way too easy without it for sure, much of it was flat and wound through the trees (very short track-esque).
I was nervous as hell at the beginning as I usually am, and even though I always manage to line up in the front, everyone passes me within about 5 minutes. I had no excuses this time. The first lap my legs just burned with every pedal stroke…it really felt like a warm-up lap, which sucked. I guess I could blame my saturday Hagg Lake mtb ride, but really I think I just never warm up enough. The trainer is not enough. Anyway, by the time we got to the 2nd lap, my legs were ready to go, and I started picking them off…one by one.
I passed a lot of people bombing down the hills without touching my brakes, and also running the 6-pack (suprisingly). Mostly though I got people in the flat, dry sections when everyone seemed to try to catch their wind a bit. I had passed a fair number of people by lap 3, but around the back section where the mud was really thick, I got passed by 3 people in a row as I started to relax for a moment. DAMN! I thought, I worked so hard to pass them, I was pissed. Thankfully I just made the cut off for a 4th lap, so I kicked it up a notch and went all out. Slowly I re-passed all 4 people. It was awesome. I can really kick it towards the end when everyone else fades. I felt really great about this race…ended up 18th out of 28. My best place in the Bs so far, I actually got some points! 
On a side note, I punched myself in the face tonight, trying to take off some pedals from the cross bike I’ve been borrowing. Note to self: when holding a pedal wrench and pulling with all your might, do NOT put your face within range of the handle. Bad idea. Now I have a huge swollen lip. oops!
