First race back

(Speedy fast bike goddess Bev & me after the Tour de Groundhog CX race, photo taken by Amy who took 3rd)

So, as many of you probably already know, breaking a bone sucks. I had broken a finger in grammar school but had never had a serious injury before breaking my leg in October. I was totally unprepared for how long it took to get better. Then, I started freaking out about racing CX again. I had wanted to do the Tour de Groundhog but our finances suck so I thought it was out. Then, I found out Amy was thinking of going. She's now my hero. She ended up paying for the bulk of the gas and I did the bulk of the driving letting her rest just a little of what was a really long day.

Yes, it is insane to drive that far for a cross race. But, I am so glad I got that first race out of the way. It was a very short course -- only about 0.7 miles, I think. A set up double barriers, a slick downhill to a left turn, a slight downhill into some slushy snow (for my race anyway -- it later turned to mud), to a barrier, run-up to another barrier, energy-sucking mud to a short on-street portion, then through a ditch and some turns around trees to finish up the lap.

I started out actually in front of Bev, who is insanely fast but relatively new to CX. I actually kept her behind me for half the first lap and stayed on her heels for a bit and ended the race feeling pretty good about my speed. By the last lap, my going over the set of two barriers was darn near perfect.

I ended up second in our 3-person women's field. But, I felt I raced well and I did finish before all three junior boys.

Once the race was over, I realized that my ankle was pretty sore so I opted to not do another race. But, I also realized that I hadn't been freaking out the whole time about possibly crashing and breaking something. So, it was really a win. I had already spent too much time freaking about that first CX race and am so happy I got it out of the way now instead of stressing for six more months.

As a bonus, it ended up getting in to the 60's so I had awesome weather to be a super fan. = )