Show up and you win!!

So this past saturday was the final race of the New Mexico Off-Road Series (NMORS). I had a much better race, taking teammate Matt Turgeon's advice with the input from Shannon Gibson about running a bigger gear on the Siren - which is not quite right yet after last week's match with the clay of Gallup, but getting close.
I was not quite as fast as I hoped, but I was able to come in under 3 hours runing about 30 minutes behind the first place female SS rider. I had a small hang-up out on the course about 5 miles before the finish which probably cost me 5 minutes. I had the shakes pretty good due to the thyroid problem and I was unable to negotiate a dab, which turned into a dragging across rock. I got very fatigued between miles 22-26 but I bounced back fairly quickly and finished really strong.
I am super happy with my effort considering. I took secondoverall single speed female and first in my age group. The performacne was also enough to put me in first place in the NMORS points for the Single Speed Women category.
I stayed to watch the awarding of jerseys to the points series champions of each clas only to be reminded that some people are still ignorant. An official awarding the jerseys made several inappropriate comments about women's categories and what women needed to do to break a points tie. It seems women are still tolerated at the races and in the series, but not yet given credit for their efforts as valid. So to all the women who raced in the series races this year - screw the guys, get out there and keep racing - watch Shannon Gibson, Nina Baum, and Jennifer Tribe-Wilson for inspiration on how to climb to the Pro level in the sport with class and with the ability to finish above most of the men! To the three ladies named - thanks for taking time at races to give encouragement, advice, and answer questions. I think I like these short course races, and I think I may have found a new passion!