Frustrating day at the races yesterday.  The course was set up on a little different section than past years at Spanish Lake and that made for a more interesting race. 
 
We had another grass start with the added "bonus" of being narrow.  My favorite!
 
The start was decent and I had ambition of moving up quickly.  After a narrow little jog in the path I went to move around Rex and got squeezed into the trees.  That was followed by a little swerve to avoid hitting a thick dead branch sticking out toward the grass path.  The branch just grazed my finger.  Another half inch and it could have mangled my index finger or snagged my handlebars. 
 
Then it was down the hill and around the 180 turn only to be squeezed into the weeds again by Rex.  Each mishap required a little extra effort to catch back on to the main pack.  Then it was onward to the dirt mound which was a cluster with everyone bottling up.  I scampered off the bike and ran over a low section on the left.  This actually worked fairly well. 
 
On the way back to the start finish area, I came off the paved section to hot and swung the turn too wide.  Before I could do anything I found myself outside the tape.  I hopped off the bike, skipped over the tape and continued on.  I was quick about it but a couple guys went by me.  Once again it was accelerating back around slower guys to get back up to the main group.  These little bobbles and flubs continued for a few laps.  I passed a number of guys but they were all guys that passed me because of one of my boneheaded moves. 
 
Eventually I popped and had to back off the pace of the main group.  My lower back began hurting too.  It still hurts this morning.  I think the soft ground required a little extra strain.  The only bright spot was getting over the barriers nicely.  Finished a very disappointing 19th.