Our race was delayed for about twenty minutes because they were looking afor a missing rider from the Vet class. Then my row was held up an additional 5-10 minutes because the first two rows had a little trouble on the dusty uphill - apparenty the wind decided to die down and the dust stayed put, blinding everyone.
I only got two laps in - kind of disappointing because the track was starting to tack up nicely in the watered areas. I ran into problems with my bike stalling on the dusty uphill firt lap (after I thought I was going to get through) and then it pop-stalled a couple of times near the end. Maybe if it were'nt for those last two stalls, I would have squeezed through in time for a third lap (well, maybe).
Looking for the culprit later, I found it was a simple matter of poor maintenance. I'd forgotten how dusty the prior 80 mile Dove springs ride was and let the air filter go unchecked. The filter skin was nearly completely clogged - the worst I've ever seen it. It's amazing the bike even ran.
So how does a +50 rider show up at a race with a clogged filter? God only knows - maybe I got busy or Old Timers disease is setting in.