Instead of going to bed at 3am like we did last night, we got up not too long after that! The cross race was early and we had to drive a few hours north from the beach to get there and I wanted to get there with plenty of time. We forgot about all the tolls around these parts too. Ugh.
We got to the race with plenty of time and it was great! The Florida Cyclocross Series is still pretty new getting about 100 people total to the races.
That didn't stop them from putting together a great course! Wow it was fun. VERY flat, UCI regulation height barriers, tons of low cut grass, lots of turns, a bit of an mtb section that had singletrack with some drop offs in it, a log to jump over and even a tiny run up. The weather was beaming with sun and the humidity wasn't too bad.
Sign for the pit zone:
They even went as far as putting in a mud section. And how do you get mud in Florida? You break out the hose of course! This guy was in charge of the mud bog.
As I lined up I had no idea what to expect of myself or of anything really. It's been one heck of ride with my life being turned upside down on me and there has been nothing pleasant about it. Training has been a joke, emotions have been on a roller coaster, I just got done burying my parents last weekend, I was extremely tired and here I was ready to race. Why, because I wanted to. But could I handle the stress of racing again? Will my body implode? It could have been good or it could have been bad very easily.
But off the line I jumped right into the lead and never looked back. How in the world did that happen? Cool! I certainly wasn't expecting things to go well, let alone THAT well. Ok, I will take it.
So with that I guess now you can say I am officially on the other side of this hell I have been through. My thoughts during the race were good, I seemed quick, I had the fire again to race and win .....all of which I didn't know was still there. But it is! What a HUGE relief. I am still in there somewhere beneath the layers of loss and pain.
Because the race started so early we got a chance to head to Cocoa Beach afterwards so Chris could Kitesurf. On the way there we went across Cape Canaveral and saw this big ole cruise ship. Not something you see everyday in Utah!
One of the biggest surf shops there is Ron Jons with a Starbucks inside. A Green Tea Latte and a beach is the perfect recovery food and venue - I will take it!
Ron Jons sells it all!
Chris got his wind while I hung on the beach.
Never seen this kind of kite before!
Chris kited until super late and then we had to drive back home about 2 hours. Repeat it all again tomorrow.
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