Xterra Way Over Yonder

The spirit of Xterra is that you race in rough conditions.  Yesterday was the epitome of challenging weather.  I did not know a lot about the race course but saw some videos on YouTube and the race looked really fun with some river crossings.  A last minute cancellation of a hockey tournament opened up my weekend so signed up for this one, just 2 weeks after my first Xterra race (Xterra Jersey Devil).  

The morning started with 47 degree weather with heavy doses of rain and wind.  A bald eagle flying above the water was an inspiring start to the day that turned into the most challenging race day I've had.  It was so windy that the swim buoys were moving on the course.  I had a decent swim though don't know the exact distance I travelled because I forgot my watch for this race.

The bike course started on fire roads and then quickly turned into dense woods with rock gardens, lots of mud, several river crossings and terrain that was so much more than what I could handle.  I ended up crashing the bike at least a dozen times in the first 6 miles of the race.  I hit a tree.  My groin met the bar of my bike multiple times and I lost a piece of my handlebars on one fall.  I lost some skin, left some blood in NJ but learned a lot about handling rough terrain.  The last half of the bike was more of a 7 mile hike with a bike than a ride.  I had no traction on my left handlebar grip with the rain rendering the grip too slippery to use with the end of my left arm.  When I did ride, I used my forearm to support myself so I'm a bit bruised today.  

In the end, I had a great workout, found that I need to get more time on trails and proudly took a DNF for the race.  It was a lot of fun, I caught up with several people I met at Xterra Jersey Devil and I took more away from this race than my first Xterra.