First Race Tomorrow!

My identity as a cyclist is definitely not that of a racer. Yeah, I like going fast and pushing myself, but

• I'm not competitive;
• I dislike the idea of depending on other people's riding (and potentially crashing);
• I dislike the kind of macho crap that is very prevalent in the road cycling section of bikeforums.net;
• I don't want to drive to a ride.

But nonetheless I have registered for the Corning Circuit Race tomorrow. Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. First, the race will take place on the Watkins Glen International Speedway, a Nascar track. Aside from it being a closed course and therefore presumably being safer for racing, I have a longstanding connection to Nascar racing. I love car games like Need for Speed, Colin McRae Rally, the Lotus series -- and I played the 1994 NASCAR Racing extensively. I distinctly remember not liking the Watkins Glen track very much, as it was the most difficult one, with all those crazy turns. When I moved to Ithaca the first time and saw that the town of Watkins Glen was very close to it, it took me a while to realize that it was that Watkins Glen. After all, the race tracks in the video games are very much disembodied places for a German teenager who had never been to the US. Long story short: I really like the idea of racing the Speedway. The second reason for racing is that Watkins Glen is in biking distance. I can take the bus to Enfield, and from there it's only 35 km (unfortunately including a bunch of climbing) to the Glen. The race starts at 4:30, giving me a comfortable window to get there and back. The way back after the race might be painful, but whatevs.
I have four goals for the race:

1. no DNF due to mechanical problems
2. no crash
3. no crash
4. not finishing last

As preparation for the race there is a bunch of things:

• map out the ride and write a cuesheet (I left my GPS in a friend's car in California)
• adjust rear derailleur
• switch seat posts, so that the racing saddle is at the correct height
• maybe buy a cycling cap to prevent annoying sweat-in-eye problems
• go for a short ride to shake out the legs
• study turn-by-turn guide of the track (just kidding)
• maybe shave legs, in case I fail to achieve goals 2 and 3...

Keep your thumbs pressed (as the Germans say) -- race report will be posted soon.