dawn till dusk till doom

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we got there friday night and it was raining, it had been raining for a while, and it was going to be raining for a while. my camper shell leaked and got most of my stuff real wet, and i was sleeping in there, so i was also damp come morning.

i put back a bunch of beers to help me sleep, it only sort of worked.

morning took a long time to come, then it came, and it was dark and cold and rainy.
the race started as purported at 7:14am, sunrise, dawn.

the pineapple has never done an actual, sanctioned mountain bike event before, and bets had been place about my results. when would linden (a co-worker, friend, and mountain bike pro) lap me, how many times, and if i actually beat her (not really possible) it was said that andy (coworker, friend, and said mountain bike pro’s boyfriend) had to eat his shirt. i was really looking towards the possibility of andy eating his shirt. but deep down linden is fitter, better, pro. i had no chance.

the race started cold and wet and continued that way, i wore out my front brake pads on the first lap, due to wet sand and poor planning. it was a day that only a real moron, or someone who had paid 75 dollars to race would be out riding. and dammit i had paid and dammit i wanted my money’s worth. after lap 1 i went right out for lap 2, after lap 2 i was feeling ok, after lap three i was in a deep dark place. my forth lap i rebounded and the partially flooded course had become more flooded and sloppy, creek crossings are a rarity for the arizona mountain biker, and in that lap i think there were 6 active creek crossings, the water was cold and obviously wet. when the forth lap finished i was still 20 minutes or so from the cut-off and had time for a fifth.

at this point i was out of dry shorts, my positive mental attitude was failing, and figured i had gotten my moneys worth. i bagged it, put on dry clothes, and started putting beers back.

results: linden (ended up 2nd in women’s solo single speed) lapped me on my forth lap, and in the end beat me by two full laps. andy did not have to eat his shirt. the high note, however, i clawed my way into a top ten spot (7th). the men’s solo single speed category never saw me coming, and my mantra proved true; slow and steady finishes somewhere towards the middle.

the weather was awful and in the days following my hips hurt.

was it worth it? maybe.

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