post-race fatigue and inspirations

Today I am dog-ass tired. Pooped. Ridiculously flat. I cannot believe I rode even part of the way to work before tossing my bike on Trimet and going multi-modal the rest of the way. Ugh.
Once at work, it was all I could do to stay alert and not yawn in front of the visiting rep.

A few things that give me hope, or at least inspiration:

1. I'm taking it easy this weekend. Time over the holiday weekend will include things like swimming, sleeping, walking and hanging with my Sweetie. There will be little or no riding involved. I hope this will give me a little recharge.

2. Judi tossed this absolutely delightful video up over at DC. Go and see it and be amazed. Watching it made me happy.

3. The good stuff about yesterday's race, in no particular order:
a. I cleared the log. Three times.
b. I climbed up a fair number of berms all the way, before totally disintegrating on the final lap and running or walking most of them.
c. I only needed my inhaler once.
d. In spite of how badly I wanted to stop, I Kept. On. Going. Omigod it hurt like you would not believe but I did finish.
e. Team Slow has, hands down, the best cheering section in OBRA. Imagine a flash mob of manic psychotics, off their meds for a week and all gathering together to scream your name as you finish each lap. That's pretty much my team, only with a little less psychosis and a lot more technology. Cell-phone cameras clicked, blinked and whirred as I rolled past and amazingly, I could hear them whenever someone stopped screaming to take a breath. I dig my team so damned hard. They are geeky and strong and beautiful and I am thrilled to be among their number.
f. Racing buddies across the spectrum of experience and strength continually offer their own brand of vocal encouragement, sometimes out on the course as they pass me, sometimes from the sidelines, even when my race is turning into one big suckball of pain. I could not imagine racing without the friends I've made along the way, and I can't wait to see them all out on the course again in two weeks.
g. The team from Camas Bike & Sport gave me a much needed distraction from my pain as I tried to figure out just how many men, women and children they had entered in the night's racing. I estimated over fifty, but could not get an accurate count because I was too busy trying to clear the log (see #a). Camas, thy name is legion. (Is there really nothing else to do there?)

Whatever you do for Independence Day, please remember that the fireworks you bought at Blackjack (across the river in Washington) are super-illegal and their mere possession is fined heavily in Oregon. So set them off in Vancouver, and don't blow anything up you can't replace (like a building, or someone's hand). Have a safe and happy Fourth.