I thought I might be cycling on the Sun

This is what it must feel like in the Desert.

UGH, it was so frickin hot!

I had heard through a long grape vine that the Channel 3 course was a roadie delight. Driving into the rural area with repeated hills and many roads containing the word 'swamp' led me to believe we were up against a different beast. Mike R, Ted Y and I got our things together once the Sport class was out on course and where we woulen't interfere. We ran into a few guys absolutly suffering, gasping for air on the hills. At pre-ride pace the course looked fun but the heat was getting to me. We road the entire course, shorter than advertised we were completey soaked and returned to the CycleLoft tent to mulled over the conditions. Rocks and roots were wet just from the humidity. There was definitly going to be a case of swamp hands from the heat.

Up the loose road we went, shuffling into a double wide group. By the time the hill relented and we doubled back into some single track I was sitting in 10th with no opportunity to pass. During the streches of fire roads everyone was blazing, during the single track people were just getting used to the course and had some surprises.

24 minutes later we ened our first lap. The ending of the loop had a short up/down where I was able to pass a guy or two, then I over-cooked the exit leading into the feed zone. Sliding the rear wheel I was able to avoid a rock resembling a parked car. Cathy was able to take all of this in while in the feed zone and appeared to enjoy the excitement!

Felt
Sweat
Almost threw up
chills
hair standing on end
almost wanting to laugh