Hey all,

This past weekend was the first official WIM race of the year (although it was my second race) in Spokane, Washington. Here's the write-up?

Greg Prior and Troy & Tara Hopwood met me Friday morning at my house so we could caravan to Spokane together for the McMud Fest. But first we had to stop for breakfast at the North Bend Bar & Grill. Greg and Troy muckled onto the Weekender. Pancakes, sausages, spuds and a bunch of other stuff that added up to "nap time". Troy slammed it down to my surprise but Greg needed a little help from yours truly (slacker). Tara and I settled for the strawberry pancakes and didn't have to be fork lifted out of the joint.

It was raining West of the mountains but, of course, cleared up East of the mountains. We made pretty good time to Spokane and immediately checked into our respective hotels. Actually, Troy and Tara had a hotel. Greg and I checked into something more like a halfway house for druggies and prostitutes. After getting settled in, we met Troy at the course in Highbridge Park. The rode into the park was littered with potholes and we darn near bit our tongues off going through them. Nevertheless, the Forester prevailed and we arrived at our destination. After registering for the race, we made our way around the course. Unlike the Mudlove race which was one, long 16-mile loop, the McMud Fest course was short and fast (2.9 mile loop). To our surprise it was also very dry (compared to what we have been riding). We did three scouting laps and called it good.

The night before the race was pretty relaxed - we met Troy and Tara for Italian (Greg had a meal that included sausage - no surprise) and then chilled back at the halfway house. We were awoken a few times during the night because some yahoo decided it would be fun to knock on everyone's door. Fortunately, no shots were fired and we're still alive (although Greg did tag me with a pillow).

Because our class did not race until 12:30 the morning went kind of slow. Pretty much just farted around and watched Greg fight with his rear tire. To my disappointment, he kept the cussin' to a minimum. I had caught the nasty cold that has been going around earlier in the week so my morning was spent trying to keep warm, hydrated, fed and psyched up. I really wasn't feeling up to racing that day but figured I would treat it as a ride with my goal being just to finish.

As we lined up for our start, we were fortunate to have dodged the weather. The forecast had been calling for rain but we only had clouds for our race. I kept back during the mad dash for the single-track and was happy to just follow the log jam for awhile. Halfway through the first lap I was very happy to see Troy. The course was very muddy and one had to work hard to get through some sections (unlike the day before) so it was nice to have a friend to chat with. He led for awhile and then I took over and provided the crowd with some entertainment by going arse over tea kettle in this downhill section. Did a good job of rolling with the fall but caught my right knee on a rock. Troy, thankfully, did not run over me. One guy in the crowd thought it was pretty funny and was giving me a had time (which I got a big kick out of). I collected myself and we took off again.

I separated from Troy and eventually caught up to Greg on the second lap. To my surprise, I lost him as well. I was having a hell of time breathing as my nose and lungs were stuffed up. So I just focused on keeping my pace. Lap three was really tough both mentally and physically. Near the end of the third lap I consumed a gel and that really helped me for the last lap. I kicked it up a bit and was starting to feel good about how I was doing. Then, the real fun began. A little more than halfway through the last lap I stick caught itself in my rear derailleur. I had to pull over and yank it out. Of course, that wasn't the end. I had to pull out some pliers and pull wood out of my cassette. I tried to get the chain back on but it wouldn't stay as the derailleur was bent. Somehow I rigged it to work in one gear (a hard one of course) and got back in the race. I pedalled as hard as I could and caught up with Troy but lost him on the last hill as my chain fell off and I had to walk it up the hill. I was able to pedal to the finish and was happy to be done.

I cannot remember our exact placements but I think Greg came in 24th in our group, Troy 25th or 26th and me 27th. I figured I lost 5-7 places due to my mechanical. No big deal but I was really disappointed after running a good race despite my cold. All in all had a good time. It was fun to hang out with Greg, Troy and Tara for a few days. Besides, I got to ride!

Our next race is Saturday, April 5th in Seatac (south of Seattle). The Battle of Seattle. Hopefully, we can all do better as it is a local race.