In Slow Motion

It's time for a bicycle race report.

Sunday morning I awoke at 6am - hoping others in the household would share in my excitement of driving for an hour down to Santa Cruz to ride a bike around in circles in dirt and mud and grass and gravel while feeling like you're going to throw up - and get up at out of bed promptly as well.

But no one would get up.

Every 10 minutes or so for the next hour, I tried to shake them awake. But no dice. Morgan mentioned something about having "just fallen asleep" and the 12 year old told me to shut up. It wasn't until something like 8:23 am that we were finally on the road. The junior having missed his raced, not caring, and refusing to wear his coat.

Once there, I promptly plopped myself in the middle of the inner grass area on a red camp chair and ate my crumpet and tea. And surveyed the environment. And watched all the women warming up.



Wait a second. Why are they warming up now? Don't we have like 3 hours till our race starts? Is there something that I don't know.

Why are you getting on the trainer now? I asked one of them as she was setting up her device near my camp chair. Because that's how it's been for me this week, she said. I need it. And then another one came over to ask me if I'd pre-ridden the course yet. No, I'm still eating my breakfast I said. Well you better get out there, she said. You NEED to pre-ride it. It's REALLY hard she said.



I will, I will. I said. But first a nap.

And then I laid down on my blanket. And rolled myself up in it. So no one would know it was me. But then someone stepped on me. Because he wanted money for a bagel.

After my breakfast nap, I decided to go over and watch Morgan's race start. So I did. But the race was behind schedule and it was boring. So I left.

I could still see all the women warming up ferociously as I wandered around.



And then I decided to go over to the run-up to see what was going on over there. So I did. And on the way over I saw Sabine. And she was still in her street clothes. Drinking something out of the back of her car. And I felt better. About not warming up yet. Because I wasn't the only one.

At the run up they were drinking wine out of jugs. And beer. And they were drunk. Already. And then the men's race came through a few times. But it was boring. Nobody smiled. So I left.



By this time, there was still an hour left till my race. So I thought I'd go get dressed for it. So I went back to the inner field and put my outfit on. While wrapped in my blanket. And then decided to go to the restroom to see If I could see in the mirror if my outfit was see through. And if it made me look fat.

And then I went back to the field and had two bites of a turkey and cheese sandwich. And I saw a glimpse of one of my kids running by. And my old friend Jenny showed up. And she registered and then we went down to the rest room again.

By this time, the races were running even more behind, and we still had an hour till our start. So my friend and I decided it would be good to do a few pre-ride laps. And so we did. And we chatted and commented on the terrain. It was a nice course. Nothing too horrid. Except for the soul sucking muddy grass.



And then we went back to the inner grass area. And I drank some water. And then it was time to race. And then we raced. And then we were done.



And then it was time to relax.