Anudder Mudder!!

The WORS Cup XC was fun for me, in a weird sort of way!! That's what I said to some of the peeps who were cheering me on, and it was quoted back to me verbatim by a teammate later that evening at the bar.

Thanks to all the people who cheered me on as I sloshed by. squish, squish. It really helped to have the encouragement in such discouraging conditions. Especially helpful was the advice and encouragement I got trying to catch the field after my late start!! That made such a difference.

I am still having visions of the sloppy singletrack with all the long "worms" of mud formed by churning tires. Right or left? Middle? Walk? Run? Ride?

Thanks to Don and his crew for all the hard work they put into building us a new course. And thanks to the decision makers who altered the course to fit the conditions - our course was at least doable. If we had had more of the hilly stuff I think we would have all been in big trouble. I actually had fun in the open sections. The singletrack was a crapshoot - sometimes ridable, most often not. Those hidden rocks lurking beneath the slime! They were a challenge even when walking. I always turn my ankles a million times running and walking the bike in these conditions. I figure I wouldn't have been able to ride through all the rocks anyway. As the race went on and I got more confident and was riding through more stuff than at the start. I also appreciated the course marshalls who stood out there in the rain - especially the ones warning us of really slippery areas where alot of people were crashing.

I started out the day feeling sick - stomach stuff. Due to hitting three different traffic jams and getting off the highway to avoid an accident backup, I ended up running really late, even though I left with enough time. My mind went through the should I bail, should I race, is it worth it, it's starting to rain, thing on the drive up. I came up with alot more reasons to do the race than not to. I had already committed to it in my mind long ago, but the traffic issues were making me reconsider just a little bit.

So, I rolled into the rain-soaked venue 15 minutes before the first wave of the race was supposed to start! (And I was hoping Don wouldn't get to the women's wave until 10 after, but that was not how it worked, they went off before that. Had that happened, I would have made the start.) Where is registration? Yikes, it's wet out here. Thank goodness for pre-reg, the people there were super-efficient. I saw someone in my age group at the portas. Other than she, I had no idea who had showed up. Ran through the puddles back to the car, and got ready as fast as I could! What to wear, it was so cold for a summer day! How many layers? Would arm warmers and knee warmers get soaked and just make me colder? I heard them calling me up to the line as I was still at the car getting ready. At that point there was no question about my racing. I was there, and I was going to do the best I could in the situation. I almost took my old "mud stick" with me but decided to leave it behind. Kenny, who was parked behind me, heard them calling me up and asked if I needed help with anything. Thanks, Kenny, for asking!

I dodged people as I tried to figure out where the start line was. There was a lot of fencing and stuff around and it wasn't that clear from where I was. And there were lots of moving people in the way. I rolled through the start area a few minutes behind everyone else. I heard alot of people screaming "go" at me as I made my way onto the course. A few shouted helpful advice. Full-on adrenalin going! I could have ripped those warmers off, they felt like thick wooly sweaters at that point, though I needed them later. I was surprised to see one of my fellow competitors standing on the side of the course yelling at us. I thought for sure she'd be racing, no matter what. I wasn't sure which way to go, I had to ask someone. When I got to the next uphill section on the other side of the trees I could see little ants crawling up the hill. A wave of relief washed over me. Catching people would be much easier if I could still see them! And so I plugged away, and gained time on them on the hill. That hill was tough, with my not being the least bit warmed up. Soon enough I caught a few of them in the singletrack. We were mostly all walking or running at that point. I had no idea who was in the race, how many were ahead, and how far ahead they were. It was unnerving.

I kept thinking that this mud wasn't as bad as the Alterra Muddy Bean Classic mud was. That's what I kept telling myself. And it was a whole lot better than my three hour walk (with 70+ mosquito bites) at Kewaunee last year! The mud seemed much easier to ride in than it was at Crystal Ridge, at least for our race. Easier to walk in, too. Except for the rocky spots, those were worse. My bike was less clogged, hence it worked better. For quite a while the rear wheel and stays didn't get too clogged up. I kept my fingers crossed. I did use a mud stick eventually to dislodge the buildup so the wheel would turn, but a lot less often than I did at Alterra. At Alterra the rear stays (and the front fork bridge at times, too) got so clogged up the wheel wouldn't roll at all and I ended up dragging the mud-heavy bike, which was painful. There was a huge nest of thatched mud back there that I had to keep scraping out. This time around the wheel slowed down but was moving, though slowly, most of the time. The build-up wasn't as bad. I could feel the big blobs of wet goopy mud hitting the insides of my calves as I pedaled and the blobs were churned up from the tires and frame. The insides of my calves were much muddier than the outsides when I washed up after the race.

My tires, which are the all-around ones I always use, not special mud tires, had decent traction, though not good mud clearance. Mud spikes on my Sidis would have been good too, and I thought about it Friday night, but I didn't have time to look for them or mess with them. The holes are always too filled with gunk to put the spikes in, and when they are in they fall out....I kind of gave up on them a long time ago. If this mud trend keeps up, though, I may have to find them. I also brought a can of cooking spray, an old-mud shedding trick I haven't tried in ages, but didn't get to use it.

It's a good thing that I finished when I did because my drivetrain was really not working well at all near the end. The noises it was making were terrible and it didn't feel so great either. Chain felt like it was slipping and hopping and it was making a noise every few seconds. Not sure what was going on back there. Glad I made it, whew, I don't think it would have made it much longer.

I hope that the citizen youth who slid sideways across the trail and wiped out in front of me and, in tears, exclaimed "I'm never gonna finish the race!" did indeed finish the race... I tried to encourage him but the conditions were pretty discouraging for him...

I talked to Chris P. on the phone tonight, who now lives in L.A. but has done many many Midwest mud races. He pointed out that it's easier to ride in the mud when it's raining, vs. riding after the rain has stopped and the mud gets tackier as it dries. That was an interesting point. Would that explain why it seemed different than the Crystal Ridge race? And someone else, at the race, brought up the difference in soil composition. Could be some of that, too.

I hung out at the ski area bar and grill after the race. My ears were, and are, ringing from the band. It was nice to hear what other people had to say about their day in the mud. Wendy called me in the morning as she and DJ were leaving town, to let me know the Sunday races had been canceled. She saved me the drive back to Nordic only to find nothing was going on. At that point I had already given up on trying the Super D. I hit the road and started making phone calls, trying to find out if it was raining at the race in Downer's Grove. I really wanted to go catch the US Pro Crit at 3:00. Nobody that I called had actually gone to the race!! Thanks to Brad for checking the radar for me. When I heard on the radio that the Air and Water show had ended early due to the rain, that clinched my decision to head home.

BTW, I was looking at the results today, and I noticed a DNF for someone who I think didn't actually start. (I won't name names or race category.) Don't you have to actually start to DNF, or do you just have to be there?

Well, this was a long and disjointed post, but that was how the day and race was.... with our race starting so late in the day and Sunday getting canceled, I kinda feel like I missed the whole thing...