Yesterday was my first race of the year. I raced mountain bike cross country in the Sea Otter Classic. I had an injury in January that kept me from riding and training for almost 2 months, so I knew I wasn’t going to do really well in this race, but I decided to try and do my best. The course has a new technical down-hill section that is long, steep and has big ruts (wash-outs) running down it. You have to choose your line carefully or you end up on the wrong side of the rut. Earlier this week, I rode that section 5 times and started to get my confidence up and learned what line I wanted to ride.

The race started pretty well. I was ahead of my projected time by the half-way point. I felt pretty good. As I approached the down-hill section, I was a little nervous. There were dozens of people along the course (watching for the carnage!!). I cleaned the first two parts, but about half-way down the third decent (steepest and most treacherous), my front tire washed and I slammed into the ground. WHAM! Wow! That hurt!! Somebody grabbed my bike and pulled it off the line. I struggled to my feet and moved out of the way of oncoming racers but my legs were so shaky!! I took a few moments to “gather myself” and check my bike then I rode off.

I was hurting, but I finished the race. My husband wasn’t too thrilled when I crossed the finish line all scratched up and dirty… As we walked through the crowd, I did notice many people staring at me. I didn’t realize how bad I looked! I have a black eye and a big scratch and a bruise on my chin. And scratches and bruises on my shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. It could have been much worse. I felt a sense of accomplishment for finishing wounded!! Overall, I have to say that I still had a good time and I love mountain biking.