Butt, meet hole in the ground

Myself, Brian Schworm and Robert headed down south to Clemson/Greenville, SC to race some mtbs. Despite still not being over bronchitis, and Robert with a cold, we had to get outta town, and more importantly, try to infect Brian (hahahaha!). Our South Carolina connection, the lovely Jenn Young was house-sitting this weekend, so for the low price of a ride to the course, she was gracious enough to provide the accommodations that were just a bit nicer than the Sleep Inn. Despite being Einstein's son's old house, it did not give off the effect of staying in a Holiday Inn Express which sucks cuz i could use some extra smarts. Jenn was making her sport debut this weekend and was, yes you guessed it, sick as well. My plan to infect Schworm was working better than I hoped.

So my title, "Butt, meet hole in the ground," that is the way the registration process for the Tiger Rag went. The short story; this was a national calendar event, but they did not have a separate Pro class. So Schworm registers as Ex 19-29 cuz thats what they did last year. I had already registered Ex 30-39 cuz they said that is what I was told to do. After finding out what Schworm did, i went back up to registration to ask if I was in the right class. "We don't know, we called him (whoever him was, i didnt know) and he said to register for whatever class you want." Well, they weren't going to let me in beginner women, cuz i asked, so I stuck with racing my age class. So as we gather on the start line, i finally see who "him" is. after he calls role, i very clearly ask "Are the Pro's supposed to be racing the 19-29 race?" He then announces "We have 1 class, race your age!" I again ask, just to be sure, and am told the same thing. OK. despite the fact Schworm, Rob Kendall, Charlie Storm and other fossils are in the 19-29, I am doin what i am supposed to do. right?

So I started well, and as the spirits of Clemson have it (i have had horrible luck here, including one of the worst wrecks of my career last year), I crashed 2 miles in. I bruised my thigh on a big ol rock, but dammit, i have been sick 4 weeks and i was riding fairly well, no way i was quitting. By the end of lap one, i caught all that passed me after i crashed and was feeling ok. After the second lap, i was still out front, my thigh was hurting a lot and by this point and i couldnt stand to pedal or support my weight. So, I was caught by the only other 30+ racer and I couldnt really respond. Since my goal for this race was pretty much training considering how sick i had been and how gimpy my thigh now felt, I could settle for second.

Post race, i stuffed ice in my shorts leg and came back to the truck, set down in the bed and put my leg up. after about 15 minutes Robert and Jenn came back over (they were waiting for Nikki from schellers and Jenn's teammate to finish. Nikki got second after a flat, not sure about the other girl) and told me my result was being protested. What the hell? So the guy who won was protesting a pro being in the race. I tell the official/race director that that was where HE TOLD ME TO RACE. He says "we'll let it slide." let what slide, YOU and the people running registration screwed up!? I asked no less than 6 times if i was in the right race. uhhhhhhhh! So up on the podium, this a-hole says "come talk to me." i hobble down from my second place step and stroll over. he tells me how he is going to report the scoring, blah blah blah, and finishes by saying "try to be more clear next time and dont let it happen again." if this guy didnt have the power to have my license suspended, i woulda decked him. unbelievable.

why the hell can't people admit they made a mistake? why is that so hard?

anyway, after more than a month off, it was good to race again. it was a good weekend with awesome weather and good company. happy trails and please enjoy the pic of rowbears rear.