My First Race!!!

So come about January 1 of this year I said to myself, I need a goal. This of course had nothing to do with it being New Years and wanting to create some completely unobtainable feat like the rest of the girl-world. (Ok, that's not true, I promised myself I would cook something new EVERY WEEK for the whole year, and end up with 52 new recipes I would cherish for life. That unobtainable goal lasted 4 weeks. 2 weeks longer than predicted by my mother.)
Anyways, there's always been a goal. Most are somewhat pre-set. But the point is, I've put my everything toward something for 26 years. Go to college. Finish college. Graduate from nursing school. Get a job. Buy a house. Plan a wedding. Well here we are, 3 months post-wedding, and what am I doing with myself? Sure, we're traveling, we're hanging out with friends, we're enjoying blissful quiet mornings without kids "while we're young" (incentive to stay young), husband is racing bikes. So what am I doing?.........
In my apparent inability to come up with something original, I think, "I'm going to do my first bike race". I have it all picked out by the time I bring up the idea to Scott, who I'm pretty sure is going to laugh his ass off. Its a fairly easy downhill, in Ashland, Oregon (my favorite place ever), in May. The weather is sure to be nice, I've ridden the course before, I may be an amature but my only goals are: I'm going to do it and I'm not going to crash.
So it turns out, Scott is actually super supportive of my new found interest. Probably because it has to do with one of the 3 B's. (Husband's life revolves around the 3 B's: Bikes, Beers, Boobs). He even agrees to take me on a secret training mission to Ashland before the race so I can really learn the course.
Fast forward 5 months. The weekend is here. I've had my secret training mission. I'm feeling good, except that I haven't told any of our friends I'm actually doing this because I'm such a chicken!!!
Oh whats this? It's supposed to be 40 degrees on race day?? ...well, I'll survive. And raining? Greeeeeeeeeeat... well that will probably scare the other chicks off. WRONG. I show up, and my competition is there too. Actually there's only 12 ladies amongst about 200 guys, but for a strictly DH race, that's not a bad turnout. 
Know what is a bad turnout? THE WEATHER. By the time my race run rolls around at 3pm, it turned from light rain to quarter-sized snow flakes and a balmy 28 degrees. Cool, Ashland. In MAY.
So this turned the race course into a MUDDY, greasy, slippery mess... imagine snow drifts 5 inches deep, and then turn that snow to peanut butter. And maybe top that with sunscreen and olive oil. Anyways, it was fantastic. I've never ridden in conditions like that, but holy crap was it fun!!! 
At the start gate, a guy holds you in place behind the start line so you can get your feet in place and your game face on. A countdown from 30 really bumps up the nerves. But the second I took off, my nervousness was gone! There was a rocky section at the top that actually had me worried (as I did one VERY not graceful over-the-handlebars maneuver on my last practice run), but I got through it. After that, cake.

 After about 100 feet down the course I realized I wouldn't be seeing my way through the race run. Mud was flying like crazy, and I felt blinded almost immediately. Luckily, with the support of Scott and a LOT of practice, I knew just about everything coming my way in that 4 minutes and 12 seconds. And I had so much FUN. And I didn't crash! And...............this:

That's right, this bike wife landed herself a 2nd place finish in her first race! Of course this was in the beginner class, but if I may brag a little, I actually finished 4th in the overall women! Most importantly though, I proved to myself I could do something if I put my mind to it. And I did, even though I nearly talked myself out of it 55 times.
Here's one of me and the hubs. He's so cool.

It turns out, our friends were supportive, fun was had by all, and it was the first year with no crashes from anyone. All goals accomplished, and I even earned a nifty pint glass for my efforts (now if only we didnt have about 30 pint glasses already from Scott's triumphs........) Needless to say, I want to do it again... but first, practice, practice, practice. Which I'm off to do right now!