the 40....

man that race is getting fast.

having a preferred start, i was able to warm up on my mountain bike until around 9:30am. set my bike down in the start area and ran off to use the blue bin and do some meet and greet with teammates, family, etc. got back in and they had moved the gate forward, effectively putting my bike towards the back of the chute. i was really confused but, with robin's help, got it figured out. the controlled start seemed a lot more controlled up front with good riders, but there were still some near misses. gabor (friend/racer i've competed with fairly closely in the past) had to lean into me to keep it upright. there was a crash on the gravel shoulder where some lady's front tire rolled off the wheel. i managed to keep my nose in with the leaders through the road start. through rosies field i hit some traffic but my line was good and i managed to get through without issue. after that, it's a blur. i got in a group that i thought was fast, but on the first gravel section i unknowingly rode away from them. so i bridged to the next group (when i caught them my heartrate was pegged at 197). rode some wheels for awhile and then bridged up to another group on the next gravel section. i ended up riding most of the race with the 2 top women...watching to race was pretty fun. the last section of rollers got me and my legs started to cramp. had to sit up (and let a group of 10-12) get away from me 2 miles to the finish. all in all, it was a fun race.

2:27:59, 108th place. i was 10 minutes faster than last year and lost 30 spots??? oh well, at least i had fun.

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