Saturday's first Minnesota State series race, Freewheel Frolic at Salem Hills, was the muddiest ride I've had in a long, long time. Probably not since racing back in 1997 or so, I think at Welsh Village, have I experienced such a mud fest.
I finished 10th in my age group, and 71st overall, out of a field of 162. (this was from the preliminary results posted at the race on Saturday) I wasn't very satisfied with my performance. The first two laps I really wasn't working too hard, and was really having a hard time with the conditions. Much of the course was clay mud with the consistency of crisco. It was a little like riding on semi-packed snow after lots of cars have rutted it up. Instead of just keeping my weight back, pedaling, and blasting through it, I was riding very conservatively. It wasn't until the third lap when I starting pouring on the gas a little more. I was feeling more comfortable with the mud, and in addition, the trail was drying out making everything easier.
All in all it was a great time, even after freezing my butt off before the race started, sitting in the rain waiting for the start time to be announced.
Hopefully I'll be more in tune with the trail next race!
Talk about a mess going back in the car!
The mud was pretty fun, but a pain to cleanup. On that first lap I got into the habit of putting a foot down so I could come into the corners faster. Most the time I didn't need it, but it gave me the confidence to ride faster.
ReplyDeleteThis is what they call "breaking in the chain". It should now be sufficiently broken in! Way to finish strong!
ReplyDeleteWhat a mudder! Great mud pic of your ride. Muddiest bikes I've seen since St. Cloud 2006. Amazing difference in conditions by the time we started in Comp. Still muddy but very rideable.
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