Not into racing as much as I thought . . .

[jessmarimba]

I'm not even all that competitive, so that kind of stuff just gets old fast. When I race on foot, I'm going for time. Sure, it's fun to pass people, but they're just carrots - I'd be just as happy to congratulate them on beating me afterwards. So, it's nothing personal. And nothing is more fun than encouraging a new runner.

I don't get how crazy competitive some people can get at mountain bike races. Especially for a culture that has such a laid-back reputation off the starting line!

I think the kids races are so cute

[limewave]

One of the weird things was they all wanted to chat-it-up at the start, but at the finish everyone avoided each other. I was the only one that went around congratulating people. It just seems like good sportsmanship to me. I went up to each of the women, told them I hoped that they had a great race and good job, etc. They barely acknowledged me and quickly turned away. Sigh. Looking back at the handful of races I've done, not one of my competitors has come up to me to offer a handshake or "job-well-done."

I had not actually seen a kids race before, so that was fun. And a lot of the parents rode the laps with their kids. That is good know for future reference. I had kind of wondered about that. I didn't really want to send DD out on a course by herself.