HPCX Race Report

I don't know why I got out of bed for this one. I knew the conditions were going to be bad but I was not prepared for this. For the first thing it was my first foray into the UCI Elite mens cx field and they are rediculously fast. It's fun racing the 1/2/3's locally but this is a totally different animal all together. I took off fine with the group and fumbled a bit in the conditions. I knew I'd settle in and work my way back through a couple of the close guys. Yea no chance... I hit the first down hill - literally - and blew out my front tubular. I didn't know it at the time since they flat very slowly so I rode further and wondered why I felt every rock and root and yup it was flat. I was sooooo freakin pissed at this. I refused to get off the bike and rode it the remainder of the opening 1/2 lap until I could get to the pit - it was a looooong way but it would be much better than running the entire way. I took a few seconds to get my pit bike and I should have just bagged it there. But as stupidity would have it - I kept going. I tried to start closing that gap that opened up to the man in front of me but my worn out Kommandos on my pit bike were no match for that mud. It was all the tubular tires or nothing...and I got nothing.

I tried to ride it out as long as I could before they would pull me and as I rounded a nice hard right turn 180 I fell off the bike and landed completely on my left side in a deep mud puddle. I got up disgusted and kept pedaling. Past the scorers table for lap 1 and they didn't pull me. I was upset and glad at the same time. At least I'd get to do two laps. So I kept on the second lap and muddled through the best I could running a lot of what wasn't really rideable at all. The conditions were horrid. One uphill was so bad I tried to muscle up it and with the power I was trying to put down(and the mud in between my chamois and my saddle)it forced me off the back of the bike and I landed on the back tire in not so good of a place. Twice. So on to lap two I passed the scorers table again and they didn't pull me. What the heck? I just wanted it to be over with. On the last lap I actually had some better lines going, but any effort at that point was futile. I saw the leaders coming up and just wanted it to be over with. Finally at the end of lap 3 they pulled me. Thank goodness.

Yup worst race ever. My first ever DFL and I got pulled. What an amazingly awful day. Thank goodness I like to race my mountain bike. If this was the only type of racing I do I'd probably hang it up for good after this one. I won't be racing in conditions like that again. It was just dumb. I'm so glad that I'll be cleaning those two bikes for the next week and trying to figure out my tire situation so I can race next Sunday. Sometimes I wonder why I do this and days like today remind me that sometimes I probably shouldn't...