Nats Day 2 45s

We return to the parcourse an hour before my race. I need to recheck my tire pressure and pump up my spares so I'm off to neutral support. Erik gets a pit pass. We decide on a pit area. Eriks heads to the warmup tent, and I scope out the first quarter lap. The course has again completely changed complexion. What was frozen ruts before is now a dark-brown mess the consistency of natural peanut butter. To make matters trickier, the frozen grooves around the course are now submerged in the goo. I pick out my lines for this quarter lap and return to the warm-up tent. The opt for another layer on my top as the wind is still biting. I get a nice warmup and then proceed to staging. I get there just in time to be called up--unbelievably, I am on the second row. The first row has at least a couple of ex-champs: Steve Tilford and Gunnar Shogren. I line up on the outside position as that seemed to open up in my last race. I see that noone else has shoe covers, and I ditch mine to SoCal Crosser, Jeff Herring. Most everyone has leg coverings, but a couple in the first row opt for Belgian Knee Warmers. It seems like it is taking forever for everyone to get staged. We get the two minute warning. We get the one minute warning. The thirty second warning and the gun. The race blasts off and we are rolling up the start hill. I'm well positioned. We hit the first right and muddy bank--I'd say I was around seventh, and then gun it. I make a huge surge on the outside line I scoped out earlier and I immediately pass into third. Holy S!@$#. I'm chasing Steve Tilford and another rider. We make it up the first sloggy uphill and up to the first pit entry as I hold third. Tilford is hammering. There's another slippery bog to pass through and a couple of riders get past me. I continue to carefully navigate the course, and more riders fly by in the muddiest parts of the course. I'm having problems gaining traction--it feels like I'm just spinning. I continue to hold my position as best as I can without crashing. A couple of riders eat it and I repass. We hit a sloggy uphill and more riders blast past. This first lap is taking forever. I make it around the first lap around 15th and feel a bit gassed. I again pick my lines to make sure I don't lose time to a crash and try to control my breathing. It takes a couple of laps for me to regain composure while I'm getting nipped by a couple of riders every lap. In the mean time I'm using the pit the best as I can. Erik did a fantastic job of cleaning and getting the bike ready. I changed bikes on at least 3 laps (could've been twice in one lap--I was too delirious to recall), and I could immediately tell the difference in the weight and handling. The last couple of laps I felt better through the sloggy parts, and was able to enter those sections with more speed. I get the bell lap and I'm feeling spent. I getting cramps in places I didn't know I had muscles. I've had to run several sections every lap, my frozen feet are barely clearing the barriers, stairs, and even the mud. I bang bars with another racer for most of that last lap and end up taking him. The finish hill was so long and hard but hearing my SoCal Cross buddies cheering me on gave me that extra motivation. I finished totally knackered, and glad it was over. I ended up 26th. My goal was a top 20, and although I missed out on that, I feel very satisfied overall, but even more motivated for next year.