The Swamp Day 2

4:30 came early on Sunday.  The first thing I did was take a peek at the radar.  It looked like an amoeba was trying to eat Gainesville.  I was already awake so I figured what the heck and loaded up.

I met Tim and Ric at Higher ground and we piled in Ric's rather musty smelling truck for the 2 hour ride back down to Alachua.  The cruise control was broken so we spent some time at 85 and some at 70.  We didn't hit any rain until we reached our exit.

We set up my tent under dripping live oaks but the heavy rain had stopped.  The course was in surprisingly good shape considering the rain.  No mud at all.  I went out to warm up for my 10:00 race and just couldn't seem to get going.  I felt tired from yesterday, combine that with the gray, cool, wet day and I just wanted to go get a cup of coffee.  I pulled into the queue with the rest of the old guys and waited for the starting whistle.

This is actually from Saturday but I look so awesome I had to post it.

As soon as we started I got pushed into the ribbon by some guy in the 45+ class.  I came out of the first turn and into the barriers almost at the back of pack.  I managed to pick off a few as we made the first climb and descended down to the small barriers we were hopping over.  I had two riders right in front of me so I backed off a little to give them some room.  These barriers were spaced just far enough apart so it was hard to get a pedal stroke between them so I was using momentum to hop through them.  My two competitors were apparently using a different technique as I almost had to stop when they both floundered after crossing the first one.  I admit I uttered a bad word, cleared the second one, stood on the pedals, and put that silliness behind me.  That's what I get for starting in the back.

If you look closely you can see the unhappiness on my face.

I ran the sand on the first lap but rode it every other one.  The rain had packed it and there was a line even I could ride.  First and second were aways in front of me, fourth was pretty far back, I was in that no man's land where I was hard to get motivated to push ahead, and there wasn't much pressure from behind.  I had caught Dan (who was in second) Saturday on the last lap so I had some hope he might fade but he never did.  I ended up third.  Not as much fun as the day before but I can't complain.

I ran old school BC kit, thinking it was going to be muddy.  I just couldn't face more pictures in my 4 year old HG kit.

The After Party

We opened our cold recovery drinks and settled down to heckle the rest of the crew.  Major fun was had.  No food truck ever arrived (as was advertised) so we hit Moe's on the way home.  I devoured a burrito and fought to stay awake as the CO2 level rose in the back seat.  Apparently the air management system in Ric's truck only works all the way on or all the way off.

I was the only one willing to brave the Higher Ground Christmas party after we unloaded.  So many people I didn't know.  I had a few beers, the temperature was steadily dropping, I was exhausted, so I headed for the house.

Curled up on the couch in front of the fire after a bowl of chili I was content.  It had been a big day, I was sorry it was over.  I think bike racing is fun, so is all the other stuff that goes along with it.

 

 

 

 

Anyhoo, to the 5 of you who read this, thanks.  Have a good Christmas and New Year.  I'll see ya on the next page.