Orono Cyclocross from the back of the pack... -- manda

It was gorgeous, but windy out. I hadn't trained or raced all season (home ownership is SUCH a love/hate relationship)... so... when the race started I went from 0 to HURT in under a minute.. and I stayed at HURT for the next thirty minutes. I'm not at anywhere near basic intelligence when my whole body hurts and my brain is oxygen deprived, but I still had enough common sense at the end to know which was left. (However, I -barely- had enough sense to follow all the flags and yellow tape... ).

Barb kicked much butt in the C race.. and I'm hoping for a B race report for Karla and/or Margot. The course was harder than last year and included a sand pit. My theory on sand, is if there is sand, there had better be and ocean.

My thoughts during the race..
prestart: "oh man. i gotta pee."
start: "yay!!!!" "Ack! sand!" "OUCH." "no. not. another. barrier." "ouch" "pedal faster dammit" "ouch" "YAY! for hand up from Bruce. "yay for the wonderfully supportive crowd and teammates that made sure I didn't quit" "ow." Repeat a couple times.

But seriously. The promoters did a great job. It was a fun, fast (faster for some than others) course. Hi to Bella officials Stacia and Sheryl(?-- hopefully right... )!

A race report with less race, and more silly is viewable on manda's livejournal .