Suprised I Didn't Puke...

First cross race of the season was Sunday
Race One in the 2008 De Stad Cyclocross series -
Diamond Blackfan Cyclocross Challaenge
@ Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa, Kansas.

I knew it was gonna be a rough day right when I woke up.
I was tired, sore, and slightly... OK very... hungover.
Funny how spending Saturday on the bike with quite a few tasty beverages plus not getting getting home to bed until 4am Sunday will do that to you.
Bad move zeke... don't do that next time.
I ate as well as I could (with how my guts felt I didn't think anything would stay down), gathered my gear, double checked it (nothing like getting to a race and not having shoes... done that before) and headed over to pick up Mr. Joshua.

We got to the park in time but not as early as I would have liked. We registered and rode around a bit to stretch our legs. I was still riding around when I noticed that there was racers gathered waiting to be staged for the race.
We hustled over.
They said we had a bout 10 minutes before the start... not enough time for a practice lap. However, I should have scouted out the first part of the lap. It might have helped in the start but then again with as shaky as I was feeling maybe not.
With 60 racers in the CAT 4 race the first stretch would have been a battle for position through the first couple of turns.
Note that I said "would have been"... I wasn't there. I lined up in the back and pretty much stayed in there.
I placed 42nd. Not nearly as good as I could have done but better than I deserved for how I felt.
I'm not a fierce competitor but I could have done better.
Great weather with a great course and a not so great feeling me
Funny though. As awful as I felt and much as I struggled through the course (I hated the sand pit) I still had a blast.
Hungover or not I still would have had the dry heaves at the end of the race.
Cyclocross is just an ass kicker no matter how fit you are.
But it is a total blast.
For however long your race is you are going, or at least attempting, to go full out that entire time.
Painful fun.
Masochists we all must be.

Next race isn't for a couple of weeks. I have plenty of time to prepare.
This next weekend is sucked up by a friends wedding that I am in.
This is the 3rd or 4th wedding I have been to this year and the second I have been in.
Always the groomsman and never the groom suits me just fine.
I am beginning to think that I need to invest in a quality tux so I don't have to keep renting