of bruises and endos

a fun weekend in Santa Cruz. my body is speckled with greenish blue bruises. I look a little like a moldy piece of white bread. But I did have fun. the cross clinic with Ben JM and Ann Fitzsimons was very informative. XBunny, Lilly Bella and I were put into in the experienced group since we'd all done more than one cross race. however, as we got in line to show our dismounts one at a time to BJM and AF, Lilly Bella and I were eyeing the novice group and thinking about heading on over there. I learned that i was doing practially everything incorrectly which is something you want to find out at a clinic. BJM explained how he sets up his pedal before the run up so that the pedal is right where he needs it when he remounts. Lilly Bella marvelled, "just like a master chess player." we nodded in agreement.

we got to preview the nasty parts of the course like that lovely decent into sand. Thanks VB and OV! we also practised the off-camber molehill section with the sharp left turn. I took a very bad line during practice and went straight toward the tape, under the tape, down the curb and over to the volunteer table where i was quite happy to see that my rice krispie treats were 75% devoured. Yeah!

During the race, Jeni and i urged each other on as best we could, while Wild Dingo (looking glamorous in a mauve beanie) offered encouraging words from the sidelines: "Marscat get up!" as I toppled face forward onto my bike trying to get through a narrow dirt channel. my last lap endo was a little annoying and scuttling through the dirt on all fours to get my bike out of Stella Carey's path was a little embarrassing but all in all it was...exciting.

Lots of fun pics and vids at Ippoc's site and she stayed up way past her bedtime to post them.