Over the Hump #5

So mere days after going OTB at Chumash, I had a bit of a spill at Orange County's only mid-week mountain bike race, Over the Hump. I ended up 14th of 23, which isn't terrible, but I expected so much more this week.

The first collision was in the very beginning. After the initial paved climb, there's a singletrack where a lot of bottlenecks happen. One individual came bombing through and got through "on your le--" before he smacked into my bars. Since I am significantly bigger, I barely moved off course and the rider went down. I stopped to ask how he was doing, but then a flurry of riders rushed past me.

The second collision was entirely my fault. There is a short, but steep, downhill that transitions to a right turn. On the last lap, the course marshal was screaming "it's just dirt." My mind focused immediately on the dirt at the apex of the turn and I low sided. Not too bad, but I did take off some skin.



So the first order of business was dinner at Shik Do Rak, and then I patched myself up with second skin.

All in all, I like the new course. I can't seem to manage some of the downhills, but it's just a matter of a skill.