A race is bound to go well eventually?

Right?

I guess there are two ways I could respond if someone asked me how the race in Columbia MO went Sunday.
1. Shitty, I felt terrible and raced stupidly.
2. It was fun and course was awesome.

These are really two different things, so I suppose I will address them separately.

1. Dear god, why am I riding like an ass every time I line up for a race? I somehow missed the front going into the singletrack and got bogged down in some wet stuff starting out, then was forced to ride quite slowly through areas that should have been really fast. It is one of those frustrating features of mountain bike racing where you just kind of know a race is riding away from you. Luckily (said facetiously) I found out in the second lap that it really didn't matter.

It would appear that the one Clif bar I had consumed around 8:00 am was not enough energy for my 12:30 pm race. Go figure right? ~45 minutes or so into the race I started feeling lightheaded and periodically completely devoid of energy... conspicuous bonking symptoms. Luckily I had told me dad to hand me up energy drink after the first lap, so I was sucking that down and holding it off temporarily. By about 1 hour and into the third lap I was done. It was at this point that I decided that my goal was just to live to the finish line.

I knew if I rode slowly enough I wouldn't have to do another lap and also finish :). This was when I got a flat. As I sat by the side of the trail watching another 10 or so people ride past me while I fixed the flat I officially gave up (a second time). I finished feeling worse than I had after any ride for quite some time. I was quite amused by all the sport beans and gels in my bag that I had not put in a jersey pocket before the race.

2. All that said, poor performance aside, the course was awesome. Some parts kind of wet but manageable, most kind of tacky, some downright rocky. The downhills provided a good challenge. I felt I rode them with more confidence and speed than last week, even though at times they were definitely more techy. The climbs were very challenging. Some in a fun way, some in a painful way. I remember one particular left turn on a climb that proceeded to kick up steeper while the ground was rocky and muddy... I had trouble running up it. Also a lot of fun, steep switchbacks, good good times.

As a side note, I put the 2006 Marzocchi Marathon XC on my Giant before the race. It was kind of exciting to have a fork that actually provided suspension. For the first few miles I was actually kind of confused and unnerved by it. After getting used to a working fork, it was definitely a nice improvement. I can't wait for my Corsa to get back. Unfortunately I forgot to check the front derailleur after putting the bike back together. I have apparently shoved the brake lever against the shifter it took me struggling most of the first lap to shift out of the 44t chainring... I did not risk shifting back up.

It was good being back in St Louis this weekend hanging out with my Dad and the sick Sidney the dog. I hung around with Sidney for most of monday before heading back to Champaign, so I guess today is a "rest day" tomorrow, and the rest of the week is bound to be long in response.

Next weekend there is a DINO race in Ft Wayne IN. Part of me wants to take a weekend off of racing, however I know that the only way I am going to get better is to keep doing it.