Oh.. I am very impressed with those pictures. Did you know there were ah humm.. men rolling their bikes down that run up? Nice!

Here's my view:
It was not a very technical course at all. ( Good for me) but lots of hay-like grassy open field sections that seemed to wear me down by lap 3. The course loop seemed long and usually when the first male catches me at other races, I know I'm on my last lap. Not Sunday. He passed me, along with a couple of other guys before the finish area but we still had another lap to go. I think they (the men) did 5 laps and we did 4. On the first lap,I looked over through the trees and saw the other women rolling their bikes down that steep section so I decided, me too!!!
I let 2 women pass me on the run up at the top on the second or 3rd lap thinking I should go ahead and give it a try and ride down that hill. I wasted too much time trying to reclip and get enough nerve to go down it! This is a limiter for me. As a triathlete, I'm hardwired to go AROUND sticks and rocks, not go over them! Cross is so different and challenging I just enjoy that part. Forcing myself to do something that scares me a bit and forces me out of my comfort zone.