Missouri Mountain Biking

Last weekend I went to race my mountain bike in Missouri instead of going to Joe Martin in Arkansas. I just wasn't ready to drive 5 hours after work on Friday and get up Saturday and do a stage race. So, I drove down to St. Louis and met Bill Stolte and Steve Tilford (from Topeka) who were racing on Saturday too. They raced earlier on Saturday at 10:30am, and I was racing at 1pm. I got there with them, which was about 4 hours before I had to race, so I figured I had plenty of time to get ready. After the pro men started, Trudi (Steve's girlfriend) and I went to the feed zone to wait for them. To make a long story short, Bill crashed really hard on the first lap, and I ended up taking him to the local clinic to get 15 stitches in his knee. I got back with 5 minutes to spare before my race. I dressed super fast and got on the start line, and realized that I hadn't registered yet. I rode back to the car (this was my short 15 second warmup) and gave Trudi my checkbook and license and rode back to the start line. By this time, the women had already started the race. I peeled my vest off, and hammered until I made contact with the back of the group. I still didn't have a number, and I had no idea how many laps we were doing. I asked people as I passed them. It ended up being a really fun race, and I am glad I made it in time. I burned my lungs really bad by not warming up though. I ended up winning, so I am now the Missouri mountain bike state champion. Wooohooo!