Muse back!
April 13, 2008 / Sunday
Sea Otter XC Pre-Ride
With five days to go, we finally got around to checking out the course for the Sea Otter XC race. I knew I needed to go, but I didn't want to: I had a hockey game at 7 and I wasn't sure whether I'd get back in time, but Aaron assured me that we would. 2 hours there, 2-3 hours ride, 2 hours back, he said. But I don't wanna! Yes you do. No I don't! Yes you do. Okay, FINE. I stipulated that we had to leave at 10.
We left at 10:30, stopped at Noah's for breakfast, stopped at the bike shop so Aaron could pick up his new tires, stopped at the gas station, stopped at Safeway so I could buy some Aleve, got to the track, parked, and then waited while Aaron put on his new tires. We headed out on our bikes around 1:30.
I figured this wouldn't be a problem, since we'd estimated ride times of under two hours for both our courses. Leaving Laguna Seca at 3:30 to arrive home by 6 seemed reasonable. So that was the plan, and we all know what happens to plans...
They never happen the way they're supposed to. Let me explain the courses a bit. I ride a loop. Aaron rides a larger loop, which is mostly my loop with an extra little loop to add mileage. Thus, we start and end on the same course. Simple, right?
We headed out and followed the red course arrows. We both rode at our own paces, which meant that Aaron was out of view before I could so much as say, "Have a good ride." That's okay, he had a good ride anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't.
A few miles in, toward the bottom of a speedy downhill, lay a patch of gravel. This patch of gravel continued downhill and turned right. I saw this patch of gravel and thought, "Oh crap! I don't want to get to know this gravel." Too bad, the gravel wanted to get to know me. And it did. You should see my left knee and shin; it's got some character. Purple, red, and brown character. My arm gained some cuts and scrapes, too, but they're pretty minor, and should go away in a day or two.
Later, I discovered that all my training on dirt was for naught; this course is actually built on a giant sand pit. Sand, sand, EVERYWHERE. I have a vague idea (at least now I do) of how to get around in the stuff, but it really does not mesh well with my love of traction. Sand hates traction; instead, it loves sliding, floating, slipping, sinking, and grabbing my front wheel and twisting me sideways. Sand, I hates you. Yes I do.
So as I mentioned above, there were red course arrows at trail junctions. At some point, I saw yellow arrows pointing out the course for a 10 mile fun ride. I'm not sure if I was supposed to follow the yellow arrows, but the red arrows took me onto the extra loop that was part of Aaron's course, which I didn't realize until I was already halfway through the loop. While I'd had the foresight to load the turn-by-turn description of both courses on my phone, this description didn't have distance information, and I didn't have a map on me to see where I was. Sigh. I backtracked to where I *thought* our courses branched. As it turns out, I was wrong, and after taking a road that I thought was part of my course, I followed the next set of red arrows I came across back onto the tail end of the extra loop.
In all, this screw-up added an extra 5 miles onto my ride. It bummed me out and wore me out; I was really tired and hungry by the time I got back to the car. Aaron rode back from the car and met me for the final few hills; that was nice, since I was really not feeling like making the final big climb to get back.
Back at the car, I realized that it was 4 o'clock. Crap. I was feeling too tired for hockey, but I am not one to say I'll be somewhere and then not show up. I needed to get food, get home, clean up, and get to the rink in time to patch myself up and change. Crap, crap, crap. I was not pleased, mainly because I didn't want to be a flake.
There were some painfully slow cars and nasty little patches of traffic along the way, but we made it home just before 6. Aaron unloaded everything (yay, and thanks!) while I cleaned up. I made it back on the road by 6:10. Phew!
So, the verdict: I think I'm still game for the race. If you'd asked me anytime this afternoon I'd have said no, but now, having thought about it, I want to do it again so I can do it right. That said, ask me again after my next shower. I'm sure my knee will tell me how much it does NOT want to go back.
Speaking of my knee, earlier this week I was going through my medicine cabinet, and I could not for the life of me remember why I had so many alcohol wipes and giant gauze pads. Well, now I remember, and I'm really glad I have some handy.
April 13, 2008 10:08 PM | Mountain