Krugers: Ridiculous

The mud was, ummm, thick
Originally uploaded by mathowie

Yes, it really was this heavy. Holy crap.

I rolled into town this afternoon from a nice family weekend at the beach. I realized I had just enough time to make it to Krugers Farm for the cyclocross race, so I got dressed and ran out to get my bike.

The "A" bike was still busted up from Barton, so I grabbed the "B" bike. The "B" bike is usually only ridden at Forest Park, so I had minimal "file tread" tires mounted on it (they make the riding on the road to/from Forest Park nicer). It also has low profile brakes, which I don't ever want to ride in the heavy mud. With no time to do anything about it, I just grabbed the bike and rode to Krugers Farm. It's the pilot, not the bike. Right?

I arrived with 10 minutes to spare. I got signed up and made my way to the starting line. I had no idea what I was in for, but it looked pretty muddy out there. I looked down the starting straight and imagined my line. The starting whistle blew, and we were off, kind of. The course was so heavy, we just kind of oozed down towards the first turn.

My file tread tires did not help. I pedaled really hard. Really, I did. But no matter what I did, my rear wheel would not grab hold of the ground. Slowly, the rest of my race squished away from me. I kept slogging along, hoping it'd get better.

It did not get better. Pretty soon, I was carting around a 50 pound monstrosity caked in an evil mixture of corn husks and mud. There were times when the wheels got so jammed up, I couldn't pedal anymore. So I got off and tried to push my bike, but the wheels would not roll. I easily spent a total of 5 minutes standing on the side of the course and removing fiber from my wheels.

After a lap of this, I decided to just go home. I left the course and looked for the closest hose. But then I felt horribly wrong about quitting and jumped back in to finish what I'd started. If I couldn't be competitive today, at least I'd have fun.

And it WAS fun. It was laughable. There were times when I could ride hard, and I did the best I could. Everyone was pretty much in the same boat out there, so we just smiled and rolled with it. There was a lot more talking than normal. I had a blast in a new way today.

When it was over, I think I squirted out four laps. I got 10th today, only because 11th place on DNF'd. Ha! I went straight for the hose and washed my bike so the derailleurs would work for the ride home.

I thought it'd be great to ride to the race course today. The problem is, when you race at 3:00, that means you're going to be riding home in the dark. I rode home with wet feet, and couldn't feel my toes by the time I made it up Newberry to Skyline. All the day's pain was soon forgotten as the nerves in my frozen feet came back to life in the shower.

All in all, it was a fun, character building experience. Now we've arrived at a break in the race schedule while we bring in the Holiday season. Next race is the USGP at PIR, followed one week later by Nationals in Bend. I'm pretty sure Bend won't be anything like Kruger's Farm.