Nose, fingers and toes....

Those were the things I could not feel during the first lap of the cross race last Sunday at Montrose Harbor.

Instead of concentrating on the race and my bike handling in the snow, all I could think about was that I could not feel four of my fingers or my nose! How long does it take to get frostbite? How would I know if I was getting it? My imagination had my fingers freezing solid and falling off, like in a bad dream. And as for the nose..... After a while they warmed up enough so that I could feel them again and I could start thinking about the race. I was wearing the gigantic gorilla sized Pearl Izumi gloves that look like they would be great for operating a ski lift, but I think I should have picked lobster gloves so those fingers would have had buddies. I actually can't complain too much about the toes. This was my first time racing in my Lake winter shoes. Along with toe warmer packets, they did much better than my regular shoes in keeping my feet warm.

What a day! 15 degree high, a record low for that day! Wind coming off the lake.... We got 6 inches of snow two days before, although the course seemed to have less than that. Some ruts had definitely formed by the time of our races, as had ice on the downhills and some of the turns.

I had thought that maybe not very many people would show, given the bitter cold and the snow. I was surprised to see that most of the regulars from this season were out there, along with maybe a new face or two. The field in the other women's race was about double what it has been at the other races! Go figure! Our field was about the same as it has been at the other races. It must be the location, and the state championship? I am a little stumped by this. I really didn't want to go to this race cuz of the weather, but there really wasn't any excuse for not finishing the series. I would have been mad at myself if I hadn't. And it was good to see everyone that was there, however briefly one ends up talking to people that are shivering....

I had a terrible start at the back - my fault. Everyone took off ahead of me and I had to play catch up. I caught the back of the pack on the pavement but things had already split up, then next thing we knew it was time to slow down for the turn onto the snow. Who goes first? You can lose a couple of seconds waiting your turn.

I talked to alot of people on Saturday about the virtues of fat vs. skinny for the snow, with the consensus coming out about half for fat and half for skinny. None of us actually knew what the snow would be like at that point. I stuck with the skinny ones, not because I was convinced they would be better but because they were already on there and I had limited time that day. Looking back, I am pretty sure fat would have been better choice for those conditions. It seemed like the mt bikes did better than the cross bikes in general. This was my second race on the skinny ones. Although the fat would have been better for me, the skinny ones had enough tread that they held their own. Those are going to stay on for next weekend.

So my goal for the race was not to go down in the snow or on the icy sections. Mission accomplished, at the expense of maybe gaining a place or two. Hard to say, though. I walked/ran in some places that I might have been able to ride. I probably lost time on the barriers and technical sections. The gap between me and the rider in front of me definitely changed at different places on the course. I didn't place well, but I got a workout. I had fun once I warmed up, I got some snow riding practice, and I still have the fingers and nose.

It seems like every week this fall I have gotten more and more out of shape, ever since the kettle race. Being sick on and off this fall has taken it's toll. The bitter cold aggravated my cough and runny nose at this last race. Yeeech. I was in much better shape at this time last year. Shoulda gone to nats last year instead of this year.

Thanks to Ed, John and Jose for being out there with a tent, bbq'ing burgers, brats, and warm cider for everyone.... and to Chris D. and the Turin crew for putting on the race under less than ideal conditions.