Monday, March 3, 2008

Officially Filthy Dirty Now!

Whew! What a week. Life has been a bit of a roller coaster of late in many areas. One sad note is the passing of my black lab Corky. He'd been having a lot of trouble with his back legs over the last 6 months and intermittent problems with bowel control. My mom and dad were trying to keep him comfortable. But, alas, he started bleeding out last Wednesday, so they had to escort him to the big beach in the sky. :( But, he had a good, long life of 15 years and got to spend his golden years on the Central Coast being loved and pampered to the greatest extent possible. So, no regrets there.

<start happier stuff>

So, Saturday marked my first foray into the world of MTB racing. I dragged myself down to Ft. Ord for the 9 am beginner race. Well, I'll just say that the race they put on there is a class act, and a total blast. I had a ton of fun.

I got really good position at the start and was 3rd into the single track. I was able to hold position for a while. But, inevitably, my lack of skills slowed me down, and I got swarmed when the trail widened out at the first point. But, I circled for the remainder of the 3 laps, getting a bit more skilled each time. I'd never ridden sand or burms before, so I got to try a lot of newness. I was the last finisher in our field - down 24 minutes. But, that's not really what it's all about. After I learn to ride the bike, then I can think about strategy and tactics and placing and stuff.

Good times. I'll try to get some photos from Velogirl, who showed up a little extra-early for her race so she could cheer me on.

9 comments:

Itinerant Rick said...

A real toughie, you dirty girl! Congrats on getting out there and taking on new challenges. Once you learn all the new tricks you can teach this old dog ;-)

Jackie said...

Yow! That is so impressive that you're trying track and dirt and road and rollers and working full time and getting a graduate degree and maybe just, you know, living , too - I am truly awed. Truly.

chatterbox said...

c-rick - thanks! I wouldn't have time to go out and try out all this stuff without all you do for me. :)

jackie - thanks. I definitely have a full life. For that I am grateful. And, sometimes I'm in need of naps....

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

ooh! I do have one photo of you. I'll send it right along.

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

ps -- Jeff Mosher has some cute photos of you, including the cover photo for the 9:00 race.

chatterbox said...

vg - thanks! That would be swell. I did see the ones that Jeff Mosher posted. There were a couple good ones.

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

wow, mountain bike racing, too??!!! Cool!!!!
I don't have time for more than road...
Yay!

place_holder said...

yay, cccx is a cool gig! cccx at fort ord was my very first (and only?!) xc mtb race i did back in 06.

fun, fun, fun, eh?

chatterbox said...

drkim - yeah, I don't really have time to mix it up either. But, I'm tying to just have some fun here and there, and an MTB race sounded like a fun way to get my workout on Sat.!

twinkie - yes! Fun cubed, for sure!