Race report: 1st crash!

Somehow I've managed to avoid crashing so far, but my luck ran out today. To make it worse, I crashed in front of most of the C racers in a spot that made it difficult to get around me. Sorry! After that I wasn't particularly motivated to work my way back, especially with a brifter bent in at 45 degrees. But it was an awesome course and I had a blast!
__After the start/finish, we went straight up the ski hill, with a double barrier thrown in just to be evil. After the barriers we went along a XC ski trail to an access road, which was fast. A mountain biker and I had opened up a gap on the hill, so we drafted off of each other on the road before we turned off onto a twisty mountain bike-y trail where he gapped me. The trail went through a deep ditch and onto a slightly wider mountain bike-y trail, and said ditch (actually the hard right immediately afterward) is where I crashed. That will teach me to race a mountain biker on his turf! The trail looped back parallel with the access road and then back down the hill for a fast, fun descent, at the bottom of which you could catch some air. Wheeeee! Around the parking lot, a double barrier with a ditch in between, and then back up the hill. So much fun! Too bad I wasn't feeling the legs today, that was my kind of course.
__Team Awesome showed up, and Super Rookie and Peter put in a good effort in the Bs. Morgan raced both C and B. I'm thinking of doing that in the future too, even though I don't even place in the C races so far, just to make the trips more worth the travel. I'd start in the back so I don't get in anyone's way when I crash!
__Lynne and I had gone up on Friday, so we spent some time exploring Duluth. I've always liked Duluth since I stopped there on the way to Boondocks, WI where my previous employer had a mill. Coming into downtown from the airport, with Lake Superior and the harbor as a backdrop, is pretty impressive. It still retains its northern Minnesota/Upper Peninsula mining town character, even though it's getting pretty big. We had dinner in the old brewery and I played some Blackjack at the casino and broke even on a whole $20 for a short evening's entertainment. Of course everything was new to Lynne, which makes it more fun for me too. It's like seeing my native midwest with new eyes!
__Tomorrow is the Alan Cup race at Boom Island.