Poor Farm Fall Cup

September 11, 2005

yesterday morning i got my race number- 13. and having never raced before with number 13, i thought some bad luck might come my way, considering i was riding a bike with a part that probably should not have been raced upon.

the race did bring three small incidents- a dropped chain on the 2nd lap (15-20 seconds lost), a pretty bad crash on the 3rd lap (1-2 minutes lost in my riding slow in recovery mode), and a left-leg cramp on the 4th and final lap (2-3 minutes lost).

i had a decent race- averaged about 35 minutes per lap, which was right where i thought i'd be. i felt okay, but went out way too hard in the beginning and paid for it later in the race. i certainly got passed more than i did any passing. i felt good on some of the flat sections, but couldn't turn the pedals over on the short steep stuff that is a signature of central virginia mountain bike racing...

in the end, i passed one guy i'd been fighting it out with (he had a broken brake, so he had an excuse), and took 13th, with a time of 2:19. not bad for 24+ miles...

i thought i'd escaped the possible disaster that the number 13 sometimes brings, but i was sadly mistaken. the bad luck took a few hours to manifest, and waited until i was at home, watching tv and talking to rick about what he wanted on his pizza. it was then that i turned to my laptop with both hands, the right one connecting squarely with a full 12 ounces of Black & Tan, knocking it over and essentially soaking my laptop's keyboard. it shut down almost immediately, and i started pulling it apart as soon as i'd wiped the majority of the visible liquid off. the inner components seem dry, but i haven't yet tried to turn it on.

we'll see what happens. i'm in a foul mood that i am covering well for the moment. it's possible this mood could be reversed tonight with a few beers (in sippy-cups) while watching what should be a very good football game.