The beginning of CX season.

It poured all afternoon yesterday. It poured through Ben's clinic. I poured right up until my 6pm race start. The course, which was half on a dirt-pack arena and half on the adjacent grass, wasn't letting on that it was two months early for 'cross. The area part of the course looped around itself again and again in a "death spiral," turn after turn in 3" of greasy mud, including a 180 that I never quite mastered.
I managed to stay upright through the whole race and, though I could barely lug it over those barriers by the end, I was happy to be on my MTB. It was a good tool for the job. I took it easy from the line and then just passed people as I could, but really I didn't know how I was doing. Nobody passed me after the first lap, and as usual, I just kept getting faster as others faded. I actually felt like I had some skillz going on and was a little disappointed at my 23/30 result, though it was 3 of the 7 women. I'll take it.
I finished the race and rolled right to the cow pen to spray myself down. Last night we all struggled with how to deal with a pile of NASTY kit, with another day of racing and a 12 hour drive in front of us. Washing it in the shower, hanging it still half nasty, and it's still wet this morning. Thankfully I brought backup, there's still a layer of mud between the chamois and fabric of my shorts.