As we pulled into town Ben decided to pull into the bike shop to see if he could sign-up for the race the following day.
And to my surprise he signed me up too! I was so scared. I'm comfortable on a bike, but I've hardly ridden since I was pregnant with Hannah. So I'm not in bike shape and defiantly not in race shape. Plus being on a trail with hundreds of ambitious riders is very intimidating.
Needless to say my heart was racing at the starting line. But after I got going it was a fun challenge. I don't think my heart rate has ever been that high for that long.
Right off the bat I was in second then after the first mile, first broke off ahead and then third caught and passed me. I kept one and two in my sights then about half way through I was coming out of a fast downhill into a steep uphill and while switching gears my chain got crossed up. I had to pull off the trail to try and get it unstuck and was there for about 2 min. Meanwhile about 8 people passed me. Finally I got my bike working and then I set off chasing again. Passed all the people that passes me, and ended up coming in third!
I was happy with the finish. #2 came in 2 minutes ahead of me. If my bike didn't jam up I don't think I could have caught her, but it would have been a lot closer.
Anyways it ended up being a good experience and I'm looking forward to a summer of riding.
Ben did great. 10th in his class. And Jesse raced too! He did awesome. And was very brave despite crashing and super manning about 20ft. He got back on and pedaled hard to the finish.
A fun experience for our little family:)
