Du Lac and the Puppy

If the big ring is the dog, the small ring is the puppy right? Yesterday was mostly puppy.
My legs weren't there in warm ups and I knew it was the fact that I was going into my 4th XC race in 10 days. To top that off, Mont Du Lac had the most epic conditions I have ever ridden in. How epic? The median Citizen class time was 2 hours w/ several riders near 3 hours. For reference, citizen races a shorter course that usually last 30-45 minutes. Great work to all of you who stuck it out!
The mud on the trail was so thick, deep, and sticky, that many quit (25% of the elite field!) because it was too hard to push bikes, much less ride them. I have never seen singletrack so DESTROYED. It went from a tight twisty Midwest style track to a 5 foot wide cow trail. Yep, most of the trail was like this

So, after the brutal start we were immediately off our bikes running up the first singletrack hill, and that is where my race effectively ended.

You know I don't have my game face on when I take time to toast the camera=)

I don't do "running" mountain bike races... well at least. I still finished. That said, I never entered the realm of anerobia again the entire race, as I sat up, had fun, and learned more about mud riding. It was actually quite fun once I started to get in the groove, and I was disappointed that they were pulling us after only 2 short laps. I had a lot more in the tank and after chain suck force me into the big ring for most of the second lap, by default I was starting to go a lot faster. IMO, they should have left the elite class out there for 3.
Jack rode very well and used his new Euro superpowers to ride away from everyone and get the win for our team. Awesome! I think Ben would have been going for the win today sans horrible conditions. He rocked the start and after a week of reasonable sleep/rest was feeling "really good again."

Good times...hard not to laugh. Great to see TJ again, and Chloe is trying to figure out how to get all the mud off!
The clean up begins.

Summary: I had fun, my bike and body are relatively intact, and I am a better mud rider today than I was before I raced. Pics are all from Jay Richards/skinnyski.com

Much needed rest is on tap for next weekend.

P.S. Ben and I weighed our bikes after. Each had about 10-12 lbf of wet mud on them=)