A Bee-autiful Day at Castaic Lake

Well a little creature looking alot like this one cost me my race and alot of pain (and there were no pretty flowers involved!)

Sunday's Cal State race should have been pretty straightforward. No field of 50-70 women, and lots of room on the trails (even if we come across some of the expert men). It started out nice, just a small field of 4 including Mandy (who would end up having a great day!). The temps were very hot which did not help anything, but I think we were all suffering equally. We were pretty evenely staggered apart and it was clear that the winner of the race would be determined on the final lap. No one was making any stealth moves or attemps to break away (prob partially from the heat and all of the climbing!). I was definately feeling the hurt though, that is for sure!

My fate arrived just before the twig/brush covered climbing section when all of a sudden I felt a sharp sting on my neck. I knew i had been stung and it honestly felt like multiple occurances. I started to panic, but knew that would be a bad path to take (I am allergic, but thankfully have not gone into shock or swelled up instantly). I slowed down a bit to see if I was going to have a serious reaction right away. Lots of thoughts went through my mind like "I could die out here", "am I breathing ok?". I knew that I had to climb my way up to the top and then down back to the start/finish. So far other than pain from the sting and some slight nausea (but that could be from the heat?), I was able to make it back out without any severe issue. I was definately stressed and very tired at this point. I just wanted to make it down to the bottom and had already decided that my race was over. Continuing on for a third and final lap could make my reaction to the sting much worse, esp with high heat and exersion levels.

I got to the bottom safely and saw James and Rod by the feed. They ran over and James removed the stinger. Rod and James escorted me over to first aid where I was taken great care of by Janet from Team Big Bear. She checked my vitals, put an ice pack on the sting, had me put my feet up, etc etc. My heart rate was still over 130 just sitting there after having been off the bike for a good 20 minutes. Again I realized I made the right choice. What if I had keep riding and went into shock up on the hill? NOT WORTH IT! My HR eventually went down and thankfully the swelling was not bad (thanks to the ice and letting my body just recover from the race).

After 30-40 min at first aid, I was doing alot better, but still had to take it easy (no cool down which I would regret later when my legs burned all night!)

Today, 3 days later, I am still dealing with the effects of the sting. One of my lymph nodes is completely swollen up and I have a stiff neck. Also the sting site is still red and puffed. I went to the dr on Monday to receive 2 cortisone shots because I felt like I was completley drained or even getting sick from it. I am going back in a little while for a follow up. See what this stiff neck business is all about! However, all in all I feel quite a bit better.

I cannot thank enough everyone who helped out on Sunday! That includes Marius who got to do his first feeds! Thanks to Roger, Rod, James especially for coming to my rescue. Thanks to the Backbone girls and guys for a really fun day. I can't tell you how many of them lectured me for not having my Epipen on me!! :) I promise it will never happen again! Had some great chats with everyone there! One of the best parts while I was out racing was getting a high-five from Abel's little brother!

Also congrats to Mandy who had a strong race, finishing a strong 2nd (almost first!). Also congrats to Joy who had the fastest expert time of the day once again!

On a funnier note: Joy drove us to Castaic in the Subaru and we enjoyed an adult student driver changing lanes near us on I-5 in the middle of a bunch of traffic! Splendid!

Next race stop: Santa Barbara for Elkings's Park Cal State XC on June 2nd.

This weekend: Mammoth for some good training rides and some fun!

ALSO Thank you to everyone who has been asking about Greg's knee surgery! He is doing much better now. It has been 2 weeks today. He is moving around well, still not taking the stairs much, but is doing well in general!