Rock Cut ....

was my first mountain bike race of the year...and also my first mountain bike RIDE of the year.

I didn't have time for a warm-up. I basically rode up to the line after registering and next thing I knew they said Go and we were off! I started at the very back so I had no idea who was in the race or how many women there were ahead of me. That was kind of wierd.

There was a big bottleneck early on, which I guess was a good thing since I wasn't warmed up! I was frustrated at first but then realized I wasn't ready to ride all out yet anyway. Even though I haven't been able to ride much or work out lately and am out of shape, I thought the course was really fun. I really enjoyed it. It was just right for where I am technically and fitness-wise. The open sections were great for me to gain some time and pass people. And the weather was more than you could ever ask for in April!! I did alright, considering lack of fitness, lack of sleep, etc.

My heart rate was a few beats higher than it should be in a race. That and the fact that my resting heart rate has risen to be about 10 beats above where it was at the beginning of the year makes me think I must really be out of shape.

A guy said, after the race, that it was hot out there for him today. I was stunned to hear that, I never would have called the day hot. It was nice out, but it didn't even seem that warm to me. It turns out that for this fellow, perfect race weather is 52 degrees! I really must be from another planet, because to me perfect race weather is 80-85. I know that's hotter than most people like, but anything below 75 and I'm breaking out the layers, armwarmers, etc. I'm always amazed at how few layers people wear for racing. I wish there was a way to reset my temperature tolerance, around here it would be much better to be a person who enjoys cool weather, since it's only really warm in July and August.

Congrats to Holly for her win, and to Chris S. for his age group win, and to Jason for his medal (not sure which place). Lucky Renee, she won the Garmin 305 that I had my eye on in the raffle. Lucky raffle number 653 takes the Garmin! Supposedly the new Garmins just started coming with Mac software. I have never been able to download stuff from my Forerunner 301. If I upgrade to a newer version of OS X. I will be able to.

It was great to see people I hadn't seen in quite a while. Quite a few WORS people, only a few of whom I got to talk to.

I haven't been able to get my printer to recognize the memory card or I would post a couple of photos from Sunday. maybe later.