The fun is back...

Saturday was the Psycowpath race at Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs, IA. For some time now I was starting to lose my excitement about mountain bike riding, until this race. This was so freaking fun I was wanting to keep riding.

It all started when I arrived at 8AM to register and pre-ride the course. First of all, let it be noted that the directions in the race bible suck and if you follow the directions as written, you will end up someplace else.

This course is very deceptive. It is very flat with maybe 10 feet of climbing. About a hundred yards in there is a nice little log pile to climb over. I almost endoed on the first attempt, second attempt the front gear teeth bit into the top log and during the race, well I will get to that soon enough. Then another fifty feet into the trail was a nice drop lined with some rocks. I walked it, my thinking is that I really want to do the Papillion Crit next weekend and don't want to be laid up in a body cast. The rest of the course was flat with many switch backs and "S" turns, very curvy. One would think that this would be relatively easy, well it would be but this course is also very tight; and I mean tight in the fact that there are so many trees and you have maybe 2 to 3 inches between you and the trees at any given time.

After riding through once, I just wanted to go again. There was plenty of time so I did it again, met up with Zach and we rode it together. Congrats go to Zach for taking first in the beginner men's open even though he started a minute late.

Anywho, time for the race. The way the race was started was not very well done I felt. We were herded to the beginning of the path and started from there. Since this is my first year of mountain bike racing, I won't complain too much but I felt they should have had a road sprint to the start of the course like the did at Swanson and Lewis and Clark.

The race was on, my aggression was a little low key since I was a little nervous about the two big obstacles at the beginning. As I was making the turn for the log pile my nerves were justified, three men endoed and there was a pile of metal and flesh. So, I got off the bike, put it on my shoulder and ran over the pile and up the hill. I could hear someone on my rear tire and decided to ride down the rock hill. I made it and was ready for some speedy fun.

I was flying through the twists and turns, my speed was up, and I could feel the adrenaline flowing through me. This was the most fun I have had in a race to this date. There was another pile up which I tried to make it through but to no avail, I came off my bike but was back on in a split second. I could still hear the person on my back tire so it was time to juice it up. Flying through the trees I could no longer hear him back there. Then my left grip and hand got too close to one of the trees and snagged and brought me to a very quick stop. Untangled myself from the tree and got back to pedaling and guess what? Yip, the person who I had distanced myself from was back. With all the twisting and turning and high speeds I felt like an f-22 fighter with a bogey on my six that I just couldn't lose. There were two people in front of me that I had caught up to but I just couldn't get the nerve to pass them. I know, I know, maybe with some more experience behind me I will have no problem in the future, so it will come when it comes.

The person behind me was Rich Wilson who came in first in the beginner men's 45+, congrats Rich. The final result for yours truly was 5th out of 11. I had a great time and I think everyone there did too.

Congratulations go to fellow teamFIRE member Christine Bixby and Stephanie Spearman of Ciao Baby team for making the podium in the beginner women's. There was a large showing for the women's category and they did a great job.

After the race I discovered I was bleeding in a few places. I really don't remember where and how it happened either. It's as though my body's pain receptors just completely shut down. Another thing I discovered is that even though the trails were very dry and dusty, one still gets rather muddy. All the dust sticks to the sweat on the body and creates a mud cake. People who know me, know I hate getting dirty.

When I got home to clean up I noticed my shoulders. They were heavily bruised and covered in road rash. I must have been playing human pinball with the trees the whole time. Like I said, I didn't feel a darn thing.

Well, that is the abbreviated version of this weekend. Hope it gives you some insight into the fun that is sometimes my life. This Saturday is the Papillion Twilight Criterium race and I am really looking forward to it. Congratulations to everyone who raced this past weekend again.