My worst race ever! Race Report: Short Track MTB #3

Whoo hoo. My worst race ever barring serious crashes or repeat mechanicals. 47th of 51

This was my first race in Cat 2, which was technically an upgrade. And wow are these guys fast.

I missed the first two races of the series because of a holdup with my health insurance. (Not gonna race without insurance and let a broken collarbone bankrupt my family). So I lost my series registration and my pre-reg callup. A field of 51 isn’t unconquerable but with 41 call ups I staged in the last row. So I started around 40th and finished around 47th.

I threw my chain three times off my small ring. Each time on a tricky climb that cost me a lot of places. So I might’ve come out somewhere around 35th or 40th place, optimistically. But really: these guys are fast

So: excuses, excuses. At least I didn’t DNF.

The kiddos

Iris decided before the race she would power all the way through. Usually she bails about two minutes in; tonight she decided she would either ride through it or walk her bike. But one way or another she’d do the whole thing. Which she did! Really proud of the tenacity she showed last night. After the race she joined her friend Laurel on a ride. It was great to have Laurel and Amanda on hand.

This was Orion’s second race on his new 16" bike. He’s one of the smallest kids in the Kiddie A race, but doesn’t have his dad’s fear of flying elbows and rubbing tires.