Last night was the first ice race of the Frigid Bits season. Carlos had plowed a mile long track into the ice on Goose Lake and we had the option of doing 5 or 10 laps. I considered doing the 10 laps but then thought about being out there by myself long after all of the guys had finished and having to watch them party at the burn barrel while I trudge through my last laps. So I chose to do five.
And five was enough. The first lap was great, I took my position in the back with about 25 guys in front of me and one behind. The only reason the one was behind me was because he was hauling a generator on his trailer to power some sort of monster headlights that he had mounted on his bike. After the second lap they started to pass me. Passing on the ice around a curve is kind of hairy. At any moment your bike could slip out from under you and take out the other guy.
I had one bad spill and it happened to be right in front of the crowd around the finish line. There was a complete 180 degree turn within a 5 foot area and I decided not to slow down on lap 3. Maybe I could just swing my back tire out and straighten it out and go. Well, I got the swing out the back tire right, but it kept swinging right out from under me.
I ended up finishing second to last! Woohoo, I am totally moving up in the pack. I mean just last month I was talking about, "I'm in last" this, and "I'm in last" that, and look at me now. I came in like 24th out of 25. Now that's progress.
All joking aside I do feel like I'm gaining fitness. Even if I haven't been riding much I seem to be able to take more pain than I used to. Or maybe it was the couple of glasses of wine I had with dinner before the race. I even got an award for being a good sport! A 22 ounce beer with 9.2% alcohol to top off my buzz and make the burn barrel extra special! Thanks Carlos!
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