The forecast called for rain. I opted to stay at a hotel close to the race course last night to avoid the long, early morning drive. The rain never came.
I arrived at the grounds of the PA Renaissance Faire around 8am, plenty of time to get a couple of laps in before my race. This was the second year for Swashbuckler and the course was noticeably different...there seemed to be more sketchy gravel sections, a fly-over (with a longer bypass option) had been inserted and a set of barriers had been removed. This was the first race I’d ever done in which there were no barriers.
All of the gravel had me feeling unenthused about racing. There weren’t many participants in this field. When we lined up, it was evident that only a handful would be competing for the top three spots.
I got a decent start and stayed with the lead group. At the fly-over, another rider failed at her attempt and came sliding down into me. The lead group of three got away...far away...and I realized that the race had changed quickly. It’s a place I’ve never been before. Usually, I can find a race within my race, but there was none. It was just me, alone, in fourth, riding my bike around the grounds of the Renaissance Faire. Having no one to chase and no one chasing me, took the wind out of my sails just a bit.
On the second lap, I went down hard in a gravel section just before the fly-over. Blood was running down my leg and I was covered in dirt...two and a half more laps of torture and I was done...fourth.
I promptly headed to the medical tent to get cleaned up, then devoured an excellent peanut butter and banana sandwich. At least it didn’t rain.
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