Padden Mtn bike race

Today's race was near Bellingham at Padden Lake. I haven't raced since the Sea Otter and I knew this was going to hurt...but I had no idea how badly! We arrived about two hours early and I pre-rode half the course. Looking back I should've checked the whole course so I knew what was in store for me. Live and learn, right? The race began with a Lemans-style start, which meant that we lined up in the field and ran to our bikes. Before the race I told Eric that I had the holeshot in the bag...and I did! First to the bike and first to the singletrack. Unfortunately I didn't stay in the lead for long b/c the initial climb totally burned my lungs. Then I hit the 2nd half of the course (the part I failed to pre-ride) and found the crazy drop-offs that everyone was talking about. I ended up walking a few to avoid crashing. Halfway through the race I found myself thinkining "I can't believe I paid to do this". My last lap was much faster probably because I knew I was almost finished. I finished 2nd out of 6 :)

Here's a video of the start...I'm the first to pick arrive at the bikes...