I raced the Sea Otter cross country mountain bike race yesterday. I didn't mention it earlier because I was VERY close to skipping it because lingering affects of a sprained finger and a bad cold (What a BABY!). A sprained finger seems like such a small thing, but it really makes shifting, braking, climbing and descending difficult! It's much more important in mountain biking than road riding!

The race is 20 miles of—single track, steep climbs, long fire roads, technical downhill, and even an area that you have to pick up your bike and carry it up a cliff!

The first 5 miles is a loop that brings you almost back to the start point. I figured I would go that far and quit if I felt bad. At the 5 mile point there is a steep technical climb (one of the hardest in the race). My husband and my "cheering section" was out there screaming and ringing their bells! They really helped because I BARELY made it up! So I figured that if I could clean that, I could finish the race.

I finished, but it was HARD! It was so much harder than any ride I have ever done. It really showed me the limits of my ability for that day. On the last climb, there is a section that gets pretty steep. I normally go to a bigger gear and stand up for 30 strokes to get through it. Yesterday, I could only pedal 8 strokes, and that was ALL I had. The tank was on z-e-r-o!!

My time was OK. My place was OK. But I'm proud that I finished, and I learned a lot about how hard I can push myself! At the end of a race, I want to feel like I can't turn the pedal over one more time. That is the feeling that I gave it everything I had. I had that feeling yesterday, and I loved it!