Humble Pie Anyone???

Well, if today was any indicator of my body's need for rest...wow! Marja and I headed over to the Sac CX race at Discovery, an NCNCA Cup stop, only a few miles from Marja's house. After the standard whining from her that she hadn't ridden in a while due to school, I decided she needed to race since she refused to make up her mind.....well she dropped her arch rival on lap #2 and finished about 6 seconds out of third place....remember she hasn't been on a bike in a month! Like it matters!

Then there was my ride....I say ride, because today I paid $30 to ride around a fun CX course Rich laid out in Discovery Park. I stayed home from Portland, SSCXWC, due to exhaustion and my body hinting that I might be getting sick...so after sleeping on average 9.5 hours each night since Friday, I figured I should be up for a middle of the pack finish- tough at an NCNCA race in the A's as there is a lot of competition, never mind I am on a SS...why not make it harder on myself!

Well I felt O.K. warming up, halfway through the first lap I was relegated to the back of the pack thanks to some schmuck trying to ride a six-pack of small barriers, seems his second bunny-hop left him on the ground sideways in front of me w/ nowhere to go....no worries, the next straight away I crept back up to the middle, passed a few on the next two barriers, another in the tight muddy single track in the tunnel, and then we hit a long grassy straight away...I came around one rider hammering to grab the wheel of the group he fell off of...then my head started pounding and I just felt weird....so I got on a wheel and held it for a while, but ouch!

"He's calling the engine room, but no one's answering.."

So began my slow slide to the back of the pack. Lights were out, and unfortunately I was home!

I couldn't even hold a wheel....now its one thing to be suffering while having a good race, and holding your position, its another when you are sliding down the field like a ball rolling down Stage Coach in Auburn....Lap 2 under the bridge, I puked....not that "wow that's awesome" puke you see because you are pushing yourself so hard in a CX race, but that "wow this is pathetic puke" that happens when you feel like you are going to lose it at both ends and your legs might pop as well thanks to lactic acid....one mouthful. What next???!!!

I fought every urge to ride off the course back to my truck and pack it in. After Humbolt, when after a mechanical I cruised and didn't realize until 9 hrs into a 12 hr race I was still in 3rd, I refuse to ever give up on a race. So I fought the urge, and I almost lost several times...

So, to somehow make one of the worst races a positive experience I look at it like this:

1. I did not give up and ride off the course...unless you have been there, this might seem silly, but it was something I needed to do for myself (never mind Marja felt I should never have started...she's likely right, but DO NOT tell her that)
2. I was not lapped..again sounds lame, but in a CX race, a bad day usually means you are getting lapped at some point...o.k. so the course was really long, but give me a break here!
3. I was not last...baby steps!!

So I have said it before, be positive...even my pathetic display today I can walk away from it with something, just not my pride, I left that in the truck before the race started!!

Gordon asked me at the end of the race, "You bring the wrong gear Brad?"

I replied, "no I brought the wrong legs!"