Polishing a turd

That is pretty much what racing felt like yesterday. No matter shiny you got it, it was still a turd in the end. Whirlybird cross was a great event. The course was super, barring one small thing that will surely be fixed for '10. Guy's Bicycles team have shown what hard work and being open to rider feedback can do for an event. The event has grown threefold since 2007. Kudos to all involved.
To the race. I had just built the new bike Thursday and was ready to race it. i warmed up on hte bike and felt good. I just managed to talk myself out of racing it. That was the first wax on wax off of my proverbial cross turd. A blah start and a seat that was too low on bike 2 led to a painful first two laps. As I started to come around I slid out in a corner and drilled my knee. No big time loss, just something that does not happen usually. A lap later I get tangled in a crash in front of me and end up with some handlebars in my wheel. At this point the turd is pretty shiny and still four more laps of polishing. I soldiered and shined on, always feeling like it was a death march. At one point Tom McDaniel states "you don't look so fresh this week". I reply, "I am not so fresh this week", and so it goes.
End up fifth, I definitely did not deserve any better. It was a great course, I saw some friends I have not seen in a while, and still had some fun. So be it.