Rest Your Weary Head and Let Your Heart Decide.

This was right before my race yesterday. John told me to make my game face. I think this is more of a lame face, but maybe if you could hear the, "Grrrrr!" it would seem more fierce....No? Well, at least it's scary enough.

We spent all of yesterday at the race venue. We pre-rode the course at 8:30 and I raced at 10. Holy crap! I have never been in a race with more than 100 women and man was it crazy. There were huge cluster f#cks everywhere and crashes galore. I got boxed in on the first turn, couldn't go anywhere and lost a LOT of places. I wasn't feeling very strong. Now, I know it's because I was getting a cold on top of not having trained very well, but at the time, I just did what I could. I was amazed at how good I was at not crashing into people who were crashing in front of me. I think it's from all those years of bike commuting to work and having to anticipate whether the car in front of me is going to turn right in front of me without signaling first or whether the object on the bike lane is some kind of debris I'm going to have to get around quickly, or whether the bus beside me is going to squeeze me onto the curb. Anyway, remember: bike commuting is a valuable skill.

There were about 3 other women I was battling the whole time. One was a 12 year old girl, who was about half my size and the other was a woman who was probably in her twenties or thirties, who was really cool and when she crashed in front of me up a hill, was super apologetic. I was just glad she was okay...And that I was able to pass her safely. I got pulled after the 2nd lap and boy howdy was I grateful. I was so weak and tired, I could hardly stand up, let alone ride my bike or climb limestone stairs. All in all, I was happy with my race. I was at least 20 places behind where I should have been, but I wasn't last and I didn't crash, and always, most importantly, I had so much goddamn fun.

After the race, I got to meet my role model. She is 74 years old, still racing cross and doesn't seem to put up with shit from anybody. I want to be her when I grow up.

The best part about yesterday was getting to hang out with Coadster all day. I doubt being stuck at a bike race, was her favorite thing, but she was super cool about it, she got into the races and we made many trips to the food trucks and introduced ourselves to many cute pooches. I feel so lucky for getting this time with her right now. Who knows if I'll ever get it again.

John raced in the 45+ Master's Men's race, along with a couple other men we knew from Iowa, so it was fun to have so many people to cheer. One of our Iowa guys even won the race, which was pretty exciting.

John had a decent start and avoided the huge crash at the beginning of the race. Which I was so thankful for. Of course, probably from lack of training or having a cold for the last month, his quads started to cramp up. Coadster and I both noticed that he wasn't running the stairs, which he usually does.

He still soldiered on and didn't lose too many places.

He crashed on the last lap, and broke his shifter, but he didn't get pulled and he finished the race in a respectable place, and no matter how he does, I am always proud of him.

We decided after a day of racing, we should go do something fun, so we headed to Hula Hut for dinner. We got some girl drinks and messed with the Tiki Statue things and probably annoyed our waiter. I can't help it that he didn't have a good sense of humor like us.

I'm amazed at what a good sport and awesome travel companion Coadster has been on this trip. John tells her to stick her arm in the statue's mouth and pretend like it's biting her for a photo op, and she is all over it. I'm not sure I would have been even half that "fun" and accomodating when I was her age.

I just realized that we have spent almost the entire last three days outside. What a glorious thing in January.