Sockum Ridge XC Race

Today was the 2nd mountain bike race I did this season. It was a stage race, but I did not take part in the Saturday events. I had to work, go figure. It's alright though. Anyway, I decided to race expert. The race was 5 laps, each lap around 4 miles long. The course was fairly flowing, except for 5 decent climbs that kicked my butt each lap. I got a gap at the start on the first climb, which was a huge gravel climb. I was getting caught near the top, but just kept my head down and didn't look back the entire lap. My bike was completely screwed up. Not sure what was going on, but I had to run a few things because of chain suck (when I didn't even shift). I think my free hub body is messed up. Anyway, I felt like throwing up the entire race. The legs seemed to feel alright. I just couldn't get my stomach to feel right. Probably didn't help that I didn't eat much before the race. I couldn't eat much, it just wouldn't go down. The last lap came and I held on to 1st place. Not sure how I feel about it. Yea, I'm happy I won and all, but I don't know if I'm "expert" material. Definitely not out west that's for sure. The reason I say this is because I got dropped from the men's expert field on the first climb. In sport races, I can usually hang with a few of the sport guys. Not sure when the next mountain bike race is. This might have been my last one in Iowa, I don't really know. After I got home, I mowed for 3 hours in the sun. I'm pretty cooked right now, so time to head to bed. Happy mother's day! Next up: not really sure. It's either Gilbert RR (if we can't find enough ppl to travel with, damn gas prices anyway), Wheels on Willy (would prefer to go there), or the Missouri State Road Race (looks like an awesome course with some excellent scenery). That's all for now!
-A