Heeeyho Readers! Mud, mud, mud everywhere!
If mud is good for our skin, I'm gonna have baby-smooth skin for a long time! That's how muddy yesterday's mountain-biking race was. First, we've had the worst monsoon in 80 years, which halted most competitions last month. Then, on Saturday, another shower to turn Sunday's race track into a swamp. Mountain-biking is wild.
At least it was fun, despite the absence of many athletes. My category (Master 30-40 y/o) was pretty much emptied, so me and other friends decided to join the Elite to form a larger pit. I'm not elite by any means, but the challenge serves as experience. Right?
The race consisted of 7 laps over a 4-kilometer course. Track was quite dynamic, with one large straight gravel path followed by several single tracks over wet grass and other single tracks into the woods with protruded roots. Technical parts included a rock garden, one quite steep drop on grass and another very slippery and muddy smaller drop. The biggest challenge was, for sure, the mud: track became incredibly heavy and I regretted immensely using 2.35 tires (thinner tires are better on grass and mud).
Weeeeee
I personally love technical tracks more than marathon style races. Wind, however, was my culprit. I lost the leading group at the start, which left me exposed to a section of headwind. I tried to work with the guy behind me to close the gap between us and p3 and p2 riders (that were working together). That strategy did not work. As soon as I put some power the other guy was unable to follow me, so I ended up isolated in fourth the entire race (4 laps out of 7). Without another rider to work together I'd never be able to close that gap.
Mud everywhere
P4 in elite is quite a milestone, I must say. Other strong riders didn't attend the race, so I'm not sure how well it would've been facing a full grid. Next time I have to pay more attention to the warm-up. Had I warmed-up properly, surely I would've never lose the wheels at the start. Living and learning.
Mud fest
Geeeeee
Bicycle ended up miserable!
Power-washing a bicycle is not advisable, although there's no other option in this case. I'd need to fully service the bicycle, so the risk of removing grease with a jet washer wasn't a problem. Cleaning a bicycle, after a race, tired... that's a problem. Waiting 'till the other day would double the work; better do it as fast as possible.
Just so readers can have a glimpse, here's the before and after of my derailleur.
Pretty messy
That's mountain-biking: you mess the bicycle real bad, clean, and get ready to mess it up again. Isn't that fun? Everything is cleaned, re-grease, and ready for the next one.
And you?
How was our cycling weekend?
Peace.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.