"I got lost!"

Another Kincaid mountain bike race last night. Long story short, I was in 3rd place (out of about 12) in the beginner race for about a mile. I felt really good, like finally I was actually in the race! I talked about not being competitive, but something kicks in when you are flying on a mountain bike and there are people around you trying to pass you. I didn't need to win, but I definitely pushed harder than when I am on my own at the back of the pack. It was fun to have a little healthy competition.

I got so wrapped up in the moment, that while chasing some 15 year old kid, I missed a turn off and ended up going a mile and a half off the course. I ended up on the Coastal Trail and we were supposed to be on the other side of the park, oops. At first I thought, damn this is just my luck, and thought about riding back to the start and going home. But then I thought, who cares, why not just have fun. I came here to get in a fast hard workout, now I will just add 3 miles onto the 6 I originally planned for.

And it felt great. I ended up finishing in just under an hour, last of course, but there was a ton of climbing. Brian said to me the night before after looking at the course map, "Somehow the entire course goes up." So I averaged about 10 miles an hour, even with all the climbing and I feel good about that.

Despite the fun I had on the course, I still felt the twinge of embarrassment when getting lapped, and coming in so late. My ego stepped in briefly and I promptly yelled out at the finish line, "I got lost!"