Cross has begun / Good reading

Hello all. This weekend was the first cross race of the season for me. It was gorgeous out, with a high of about 75 and sunny. I see that Brooks has already posted a nice course description and race recap, so I will refrain from posting too much about that. For me, this race was divided into 3 parts: the first 2 laps - where I felt strong, the middle 3 laps- where my legs felt powerless, and the last 2 laps - where I felt strong again. I think my body needs to get used to doing these short 40min races instead of the 2hr races that I have been doing all season. Good thing there are 7 more races in the series! :) Regardless of how crappy my legs felt in the middle portion, I ended up 15th overall and 10th in my age group. Hopefully I can move up as the series progresses.

Here is a picture of me going over the first set of barriers, right after the start/finish:
Another shot of me, entering the gravel climb near the start of the lap:
A pic of Brooks, stylin' with his skinsuit and orange handlebar tape:
One of the ways to intimidate the other racers is to flash gang signs, post race:
Next race is in another 2 weeks. Heather may also race in that one, so that should be fun.

In other news:
I just got done reading Marley and Me, by John Grogan. If you are an animal-lover, I highly recommend picking it up. Great read. Gets quite sad at the end when Marley dies (sorry to ruin the ending). Doesn't help that Marley is also a yellow lab that looks like little Vontoux. Heather is going to cry when she reads it. I guarantee it. :)

This weekend (Thurs-Sun) is the big trip back to GF! Looking forward to it. Hopefully we can get the bike shop all set up with Ascend, and still have time for all the fun stuff that I want to do. I'll post a recap once I get back. Until then, keep the rubber side down!