Racin in the Rain

Yesterday was the Boyne Mountain XC and it was pouring for most of the race. The course is hard when dry and really hard when muddy and wet. Somehow it gets more fun the worse it gets, maybe thats a Northern thing. I do know as the mud to dry skin ratio goes up the flavor of beer and post-race food does too. That might explain why racing in the rain is fun.

To the race... I ride a singlespeed and one of the beauties is they don't break down. Mine did, and pretty violently. Starting with the Pro/Elite group I hold on for dear life through the flat, fast start. Made it through, sitting in great postion for most of the lap. I drilled it into the bottom of a climb I can clear 50% of the time when it's dry so I knew I really had to give 'er this time. I did and my chain exploded with my efforts. Damn that really hurt and I got to know my stem/bars very well. So well that they are actually imprinted across both my thighs for the next couple weeks. I had some parts in my pack and set to work fixing my chain and watching the entire Pro/Elite field pass me. Got it fixed, got back on and started to hit it. I ended up having to drop out after I realized a couple other things exploded with my chain. Ahh well. I had a nice downhill to the finish, pulled off, and hung out with my Mom who was standing in the pouring rain waiting for me to come through. She is awesome. Ended up hanging out in a downpour with Meg (she and my Mom are the best fans ever) and Moriah cheering for Uli (t-stone) and Steve who held strong and raced hard.

After the race we got lunch, beers, and hung out. I treated the rest of the day like I'd just raced 100 miles hard instead of the 10 I really did. Didn't finish but had a damn good day. Next up is Peak to Peak and ICEMAN. Gotta keep training so I don't start crying the first 100 yards of Iceman...
WB