Slacker then normal

Well I have been dragging a$$, more than normal even for me posting an update from the weekend...I think the reason is that I have been mulling over my "desire" for road racing.
There used to be a point in time, in the not too distance past where nothing would phase me in a road race. The weather, the competition, the course.. you get the idea. Well this last Saturday I really came to point where I said do I have the desire to be in this race? But that's getting a bit ahead of my self.
First off I missed the roll out for the race! This is the first time this has ever happened. There was a group of us clustered around the finish line (8 riders), we never got the call to line up around the corner and the 30 rider bunch rolled out without us. Eventually we were told we could join in when the bunch came pass and race for a placing. Now this year the organisers got clever they decided it would be fun to run the course in reverse....and it was drizzling before the start enough to slick the course.
Sure enough first time through the corners past the pedestrian bridge someone crashes two riders in front of me! Rear lock-up left, right left flick to avoid the rider heart rate through the roof and one lap down.
Now everyone knows rain+ asphalt+ grit+ painted lines = danger so next lap through I get the whole two wheel drift thing happening. Now anyone that has had this happen know what a shammy staining experience it is on a road bike. Yeah it's cool and fun on the MTB, but on a road bike it's just not meant to happen. And if it does happen normally the consequences are something similar to super bike racing. The person ends up over correcting and high siding the bike...which normally results in broken bones.
Well I have to say that I must have a guardian angel in this respect as I have had it happen a number of times and never crashed...gone home and had to wipe my shorts out but never crashed. But this day I had it happen two laps in a row, and I was ready to throw in the towel. I really don't know whether other people were having the same trouble as me but I just wasn't up to decking it for nothing.
After the first two laps the course started to dry up after the light drizzling rain and I was more confident through the corners.
A break established itself about halfway through, but at about the 70k mark down came the rain again and I had another moment in the corners. And I just sat up and called it a day. At the time I justified it with personal safety, but in hindsight it seems a bit weak. As I said there was a time where it really wouldn't have worried me.
I guess this is the point where I'm supposed to lament about priorities, age and knowledge. In a way I do want to be Peter Pan and never grow up. I guess age is catching up.

Sunday was alot more fun. I got to ride the MTB around Sparrow for the first time in months. And yes it was as good as I remember. However the up shot of the ride was I diagnosed the noise in my Magura forks. Looks as though the bushings have gone. I'm reserving judgment on this, as the new Australian agent A-Line are looking to cover the forks under warranty. For a set of forks less than 6 months old, with maybe one ride every other weekend it's not boding well. They have perform excellently so far but to kill a set of bushings in 6 months of occasional use isn't flash.