TMBRA 2023 - Race 6 - Sugarland Classic - 05/07/2023

 TLDR: This TMBRA race was a rough one. It was continuously raining the entire time, so the course was super muddy. Our start time got pushed back repeatedly, and the race almost didn't happen. I got 3rd by a long shot, ten minutes back. I got 3rd place out of 4. 

I didn't get to pre-ride the course, because we got there Saturday night and had no time. We stayed about 30 minutes away and got to the place pretty late. I went to bed at 9:15 and got 10 hours of sleep. I had to wake up at 8:15, to get there on time. When I got there, I immediately started warming up on my rollers, but right at the end of my warm-up, we got word that the start time had been pushed back 30 minutes. I rode over to the registration to double-check, and it was confirmed that the start time had been pushed back. It was raining hard by now, and I went under the Houston Redbird's tent. 

Nearing the new start time, we heard that the start time was pushed back again. This happened 2 more times, and then Reese, Josie, Grace, and I all rode around to keep ourselves warm. Near the new race start time, one of the TMBRA volunteers had us vote on whether we still wanted to race or not. I voted for race, and so did the rest of the people in my category. 

We started, and immediately, the start was terrible. It was super slippery, and I was far behind them until a big hill caught us up. The course was the most slippery thing I had ever ridden. It seemed like a super fun, flowy course when it was dry, but when it was muddy, there were some off-camber sections that were super sketchy. I was really tense, and so I kept slipping out. My back wheel would fishtail all over the place and I was having trouble keeping upright. There was a downhill that was slightly off-camber and on a turn. I leaned into the hill too much, and I completely slid out and slid all the way down the hill. I got up but had trouble getting started again because I was shaken from the crash. I eventually got going again and caught up to Josie and Reese, who were also struggling to stay upright. We rode together for a little while and gave each other advice on how to stay on the bike. We rode like this for a while, and then Reese's chain came off. Twice. 

Soon, my eyes were filled with mud. I started slowing way down, partially because I couldn't see, partially because my eyes hurt, and partially because when I went faster, more mud would fling up into my eyes. Right about now was when I was cursing my decision to not wear glasses. I had them in my back pocket on the start line, but then passed them off to my dad because I knew they would get muddy. Somewhere into the middle of the second lap, I stopped to try and get the mud out of my eyes. I grabbed my water bottle to try and get the mud off my face, but then I had mud and water on my face and in my eyes. I finished out the race and got rinsed off. I learned that Josie had to go to the Emergency Room because she had so much mud in her eyes that she'd scratched her corneas. In this race, I choose safety over the win. Next time a race like this happens, I'm gonna try and balance out the safety and competition aspects of it better.