Rockbuster 2010

As expected, Rockbuster 2010 was a whole lotta fun. I think that the folks you meet can make a potentially good race experience a great experience. Part of the bonding experience is wow-ing over gadgets and thanks to Gene of GearWorks, I got to demo a beautiful test bike, the dual suspension Specialized Epic mountain bike. (I loved it so much that I wanted to kiss it. I insisted my rackmates try it out after the race. The consensus was that indeed it is a phenomenal bike. Oh, yeah, it costs about $2400.) What I most appreciate about off-road events is that there is not much of the usual strutting around as with regular triathlons and duathlons-- you know, that swagger that elite athletes have? People in off-road events are more, pun slightly intended, "down to earth". Sure, the elites are present, but nobody really cares-- we all will get muddy, possible road rash, perhaps a good trajectory over the handlebars (AKA a "superman") on the downhills. More likely to get a flat tire too. I was, per usual, whining about the weather to my neighboring rackmate, Serenity. ("I'm 100% Greek you know, this weather would have caused us to go extinct.") Her husband, Mike, was her designated pit crew and photographer. We three laughed so much prior to the race that there was only time for a brief warm-up (and little time to really play with the bike). The race was relaxed as both Serenity and I had "handicaps" from the get-go-- she was nursing a left achilles tendinitis and I had to put forth 70% effort on an already very very tired body due to my relentless training for the upcoming Half-Ironman. Medals were won mainly as a result of finishing the race. The medals and making a new friend with a similar interest (and a lot more, like ice climbing!!!) was icing on the cake.