Bike Race

Ok so a week and a half ago I did my first ever bike race. I have done a triathalon and some "rides" but never a race. This was even a mountain bike race. Well it was really fun but I learned a few things. First, I am not a good mountain biker. I have lost the ability to block all fear from my mind. I know what I should be doing but I can't get my body to comply. As I come down a deep decent I will say to myself don't hit my brakes, don't hit my brakes. Then what do I do? Hit my brakes. Because I hit my brakes so much I have to work twice as hard and I am just not in good enough shape to make that happen. That is the second thing I learned that I am not in as good of shape as I want to be. In any case I wasn't able to finish because I took a digger and completely bent my front wheel so bad it was game over. I had a pretty bad start but I would have definetly finished in the bottom half of the race. In any case it was fun and I plan on doing it more next year.