Fall Series Race #1-Camp Eagle

So the first race of the fall season was last weekend, held at Camp Eagle. That's way over in the TX hill country, complete with hills, the associated climbing, and all the rocks you could wish for. We didn't get to ride Saturday because our bikes showed up at the same time as a nasty afternoon thunderstorm, turning the course into a quagmire of mud and slippery rock. Sunday, my race was pretty pathetic. I knew I wasn't on form, after getting sick after the Team Time Trial a month ago and not spending much time on a bike since then. But I didn't know I'd be that pathetic. Off the line I was about 6th into the singletrack, but I blew up pretty quick. I had to back it down and allowed the rest of the class to go by. I was done. The rest of the race was slippery nasty, and I walked a LOT. A whole LOT. Pathetic. I got cramps pretty bad out on the course for the first time I can remember in a while. I was super low on fluids and had been saving them for such a time as that. I passed one guy in my class a couple miles from the finish to wind up next to last finisher, which meant I'd been riding around in DFL the whole race. I was out on the course for just over 3 hours, and got back to the trailer unable to make coherent sentences. Dehydra-she-on. I won't bother to post a picture, the only one taken of me I was pushing my bike. Which I guess actually makes sense, since I pushed my bike most of the time. Hopefully next weekend at Huntsville, where I expect to be able to ride my bike for the race as opposed to pushing it around, will be lots better. I'll post again with the results, thanks for reading, see ya.