Bucknell Race, mid-weekend

yowza. i've never been so smoked, but i do love the racing. certainly i'm fatigued from playing substitute den-mother, since mark is too cool for us this weekend. it has occurred to me, though, this was the first race i've ever done that was long enough to need a water bottle. which may be part of it. it would've been an easy day for me, since beastmaster was off the front, solo, for 22 of the 36 miles (and took 2nd, by the way), but i decided to attack once he got caught.
the demise of my attack is a surprisingly long story. let's not get into that.

overall, today has been the awesome...

• left HP at 6:05
• best rest stop ever... stopped at a Holiday Inn somewhere in PA. not only could we use their clean, warm, perfumed bathroom, but we could also take advantage of their free internet kiosk.
• got to the race in time to register, dress, pin, and warm up, which had never been a guarantee
• avoided every crash on what would've been a great, if fast, 'cross course
• put in a pretty good attack, even did the ol' shake-n-bake (as taught to me by will and american flyers)
• checked in to the hotel, which turns out to be one of the nicest i've ever stayed in., and not too expensive. if the jacuzzi hadn't been shut down, we would've used it. spacious, clean, quiet, and with free cookies.
• massive team dinner, care of Damon's, the Applebee's-wannabe across the street. the waitress dealt with our giant order like a champ, then hooked us up with garlic bread. it may not seem like a big deal to you, but i nearly cried with joy
  

one final story: some crazy kid from bucknell decided to tighten his rear wheel's skewer by hand-screwing it. instead of using the quick-release, this kid just tightened the skewer by hand, leaving the lever at the end very exposed. i informed him of it, suggesting he have a teammate show him how to properly use the qr. when i told will this story, he said he would've been a lot less polite, because that kid could've crashed half the field. well, whatever was left of the field after the crashes, flats, and mechanicals. war of attrition, baby.