The hill climb was Saturday morning and I decided at the last moment to take up Eszter's offer to stay at the condo, so started my weekend a little early after work Friday. When I have to choose between an early morning solo departure and some quick planning that will get me there the night before, I'll always go with the latter, plus the condo scene is always a good time.
There's not too much to say about the race itself: I blew up big time in the first couple hundred yards (just like I was told not to), hanging with two other women and pulling away from the others, only to hit a wall and then start counting as the rest caught up and passed (at least nine). Then it was just under an hour of suffering, with a little bit of energy left for the last grueling climb to the finish. I figured it was about 56 minutes, four minutes better than last year's embarrassing hour, but still not faster than my first year, or so I thought. Looking over the times online tonight, I see that this year was actually one minute faster than my first year, which makes me kind of happy.
Usually after a race I'm just ready to go home, but I talked myself into hanging out at the condo for another day and fitting in three more rides, including a near repeat of the hill climb itself. I'm still getting used to the new fork and bike set up and definitely should have called it quits before that third ride, but it was a lot of fun and, as always, I thank everyone who waited up for me at the trail intersections. I even enjoyed the new ramps and bridges on Free Speech and look forward to a repeat visit, maybe even with a rented full-squish bike.
While I still feel a little guilty about slipping away for the weekend, I think it was worth it. Household chores are nothing compared to excellent friends, food and rides. And we got to see a mountain lion on the way home - can't beat that!
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