Woke up early and was kind of nervous, I didn't want to spend any energy I didn't have to. I'd done all the preparation work, spent time in the saddle and all. Got up and took a cold bath 'cause I don't have the gas on to heat the water (it's summer anyway). Then I got dressed for the race, and threw all the gear, bike and all, in the back of my jeep. Drove relaxed to the starting area and got myself registered and ate half a whole banana.

Now, getting dressed for the race is not the same as being dressed for the race. There are cycling shoes, helmets, numbers to pin to shirts, and safety glasses among other things that you have to have. So, once registered I started putting on my gear only to find I had forgotten my cycling shoes at home. So I had to drive back home and retrieve them and get back to the start line. I had to go slow so the cops would leave me alone. By the time I was back, the race was getting ready to start so I had to hurry with the gear (threw on the helmet, shoes, glasses, race number). By the time I joined the line the race had started so I lost a couple of seconds but at least I was off and going. No time to think about it.

Right away I started passing slower riders but the leaders were long gone so no sense trying to chase them down now. I figured to just relax into a good pace. The first mile of the course featured two speed bumps to slow traffic. I passed over these with ease only to go over a drainage grate a little hard. Hitting the grate my bicycle seat came undone and I couldn't keep going until I had it fixed. I stopped, took out the tools and fixed the seat while everyone passed by. So there I was, a mile into the race and already in last place and 5 minutes behind everyone. Not the way to start a race.

I then went kind of hard, against my race plan, to try and make up some time. I passed several riders in front of the state hospital but about the time I was at camp luna I noticed that my rear shift lever was not staying in place and was causing the bike to shift gears. I knew I would have to stop again but let the shifter alone until I was at Montezuma. Then had a quick stop to fix it and was off again, another 3 minute loss.

Then it was up Gallinas canyon, and I was pedaling hard trying to make time, really not my race plan at all. I figured I could rest up later anyway so I kept going hard. I actually passed several riders on the hill. The safety glasses were getting foggy so I pulled them down and kept going glad I had water with me. I made it over the top and down the other side. Caught a few more riders and just kept chugging along. The bike was working great now.

About the time I was in Gallinas, a silver sheriff's vehicle passed by with its lights on. Soon after the leaders zoomed by on the way back down the hill and I was still several miles from the turn around. Passed a few more riders between Gallinas and the fork in the road and only passed one rider between the fork and the hermits peak camp ground.

When I got to the camp ground there were some spectators, a silver sheriff's vehicle, some cones set up, and some painted arrows. One set of arrows turned around the cones and another pointed further up the road. Was this the turn around? I asked several people there but none answered. Distracted with shouting questions and being ignored I veered off the road into a ditch and would have fallen except that I learned some off road techniques on my mountain bike and just made it back out of the ditch and onto the bridge. Another second of ditch riding would have put me under the bridge and into the river.

I went over the bridge and on up another small hill only to find I had gone too far. By the time I turned around and made my way back to the cones in the road the silver sheriff's vehicle was on down the road and a couple of guys were spraying over the arrows that went straight with some black paint. I guess the bad arrows were just meant for me. It was a good joke costing me about 3 more minutes of trail riding and some fear.

Now at least I was going back to town. It was almost all down hill so I pick up the speed. A lot of speed. I'm blazing along at between 30 and 35 miles per hour and manage to catch the silver sheriff's vehicle and am just getting ready to pass when the vehicle stops on the road in front of me. I am forced to swerve left to go around him and find I'm on a collision course with a rider going to opposite direction and have to swerve again. At least I don't end up crashed and I keep going. All the way back through the fork in the road, past Gallinas, and up the hill again I'm getting tired. At the top I catch another rider.

Zooming down the hill was 3 miles of "very fun." At the bottom I find many other riders that are doing the short race. By this time my legs are dead tired. It takes a lot of concentration just to keep them going around but I sure am glad I have water with me. I passed Montezuma, several other short distance riders, and a polar bear. Did I mention I was tired? The polar bear turned out to be a white dog, but I was tired.

Between Mills and the plaza a little black Mercedes cuts me off, but I get back at them when it has to slow down for the speed bumps and I don't. I made it back to the finish line in one piece.

My time of 2:04.07 (two hours, four minutes) was about two minutes slower than my personal best and I figure I was top 10. I do a quick warm down and head back to the jeep. As I'm removing gear I notice that I had put my helmet on backwards in my rush at the start and had ridden the entire race with it backwards. Maybe next time I will have spaghetti instead of pizza the night before.

Note to self: half eaten bananas left in hot jeeps while you're out bike riding will be warm, slightly squishy, yet still tasty when you get back.

Fin