Speaking of mental...
Bearscat 50, 7th out of 66 in 45+
Wawa is a love / hate thing. At the last race, I went OTB a couple of times, causing some damage to my wrist.
Here is a capsule summary of my strengths and weaknesses:
Legs - relative strength
Rocky tech things - weakness.
Ability to suffer for a long long time - strength
So I figured I have 2 of 3 things, and I can get by the tech thing.
5 minutes in, I'm in the lead, and going too fast for my own good. I go OTB (trend emerging) and my bike hits me in the FACE. I don't know how, nor which part. But it's 8 stitches worth on my upper lip. Miracle is I didn't lose any teeth or break my nose
I collect myself, and chase. 30 mins in, I think I'm in the top 5 or whatever. I am dismounting to go through some traffic, and front wheel hits something, bike hits a rock, my derailleur breaks off.
I'm thinking I'm done, now have to walk a long way. By some miracle, a guy by the name of Jake Hamm from Bethel Ct stops, and asks whether I need anything. I say well, unless you have a der hanger for a scalpel, no.. He hands me one. Crap, what good fortune.
I'm still trying to find him. I think I found him on FB, but he hasn't answered my message yet. DOES ANYONE KNOW HIM?
Every single rider that passes asks if i'm ok. That could be because my face is covered in blood, but everyone is ... so ... genuinely ... nice, it's awesome.
Woody stops and he helps. Woody is great. He's the ultimate fix-it - and the nicest all-around guy ever.
I have to pull the wheel and brake in order to get to it. 30 minutes later, I'm off and going, knowing my race is pretty much done. I don't think about quitting, because now it's personal.
I pass lots of people, again, everyone is so incredibly cool, moving over right away.
So for the rest of the "race", I'm working on my weakness. I'm trying not to fight the bike or the trail, but flow and be one. By middle of second lap, a certain calm emerges, and I'm actually getting it, relatively speaking. I have a lot more work to do, but it feels better. I spin through some cramps.
Then I finish. My team says I look bad. Utah's better half is a nurse, and suggests I should go get stitches, or risk scarring. So I jump in a car, and by 8pm I'm all stitched up - 8 stitches on upper lip. Kind of a long day.
Kirt texts me that I finish 7th, which is pretty funny given I gave up 30 minutes at least and have a smashed up face. Holy crap # of people who didn't finish is huge.
Bottom line, what a great race put on by fantastic people with the best group of racers I've ever seen.