hot laps through north portland

Going to OBRA Championships next week involved staying home from Barton Park today.
The deal was that I wanted to attend an event later today with Sweetie and I could not do that and race at 2 pm at Barton Park. After considering all my options, I decided to skip Barton altogether and race next weekend.
Never mind that Barton Park is the final race of the Cross Crusade series; or that at least two different outdoor sports shows are covering the race for future broadcast; or that Barton is one of the best courses in the series. If had gone to Barton Park today I'd be racing in Womens' Master 45+. But by skipping it, I get to race next weekend in a Womens' Singlespeed category that OBRA has seen fit to award state championship medals for. We will get our own start, and perhaps our own chance at a holeshot before they send the next round of racers off.

Is it worth it?

I had a window of free time this morning, while Sweetie ran errands in preparation for our event tonight. So I dressed, embrocated, and pulled out Stompy for a short, brisk ride around North Portland. I decided that, after a brief stretch, I'd hop on and go wherever Stompy told me to. I ended up doing a very large hot lap out to Willamette Blvd along Rosa Parks, then did a big loop around Overlook and back towards Ainsworth. Then I looped all the way around again, not quite as hot but still at a fairly brisk pace. A couple of these laps allowed me to clear my head, breathe hard and admire the last of the brilliant fall colors still on the trees. By the time I finally rolled back to Woodlawn Park, I decided not to go hard in the mud and wet grass, but to save it for a short mid-week session if time allowed. I arrive home, having ridden hard if not terribly far; and feeling much better.

Ahhhh. Better now.