North Shore Classic -Mud Fiesta

I should have known that the race was going to be muddier than I had planned when driving into the State Park we noticed that water was up to each side of the road, just inches from washing over the road. There were swamps and ponds where fields used to be. Not too mention that the drive down route 1, there was still a lot of flooding present. Long story short...Chaos...The mass start was really exciting however I lined up in the wrong spot with a few other Root66-ers and we were at the back of the pack. The whistle went off and it was a mad dash to pass people. Too many people tried to outsprint everyone and some even bonked on the first 1/2 mile. I tried following Dave L. and Todd L. through people since they are insanely fast and talented. Just trying to pick off riders as fast as I could, that seemed to be everybody else's game plan as well. People who got off the line right away were long gone and tough to catch. Settling into the first lap, my heart rate was maxed out so I had to ease off a bit to calm back down and get into a better rhythm. Mile one, treachous with just the number of beginner riders..Mile 2...let the mud bonanza begin. There were 1/2 mile stretches of 8-10 inch deep mud....walking 1/4 mile sections was not un-common. There were one or two hills that were just insanely slick but fun. Lots of walking, Got a few words in with a Kona/Luna lady (always a nice thing) A.B.....she was really hammering up the hill that I was walking but a slower rider prevented her from riding the whole hill. IT was pretty nuts. The mud, did I mention how deep the mud was or how in some sections it just seemed to go on forever. There were points that my tires caked over so bad they wouldn't pass through the chain stays...and the v-brakes, I had to stop at one point and pull out the grass and mud clumps just to get them working again, not that v-brakes were doing much good. Shifting was a whole other debacle. Both front and rear derailleurs worked, but by the end I was having lots of ghost shifting issues. The single track sections were lots of fun, the downhill sections were extra fun but you never knew if you that one mud patch was just a patch or something deeper and more menacing. Luckily there were no sharp turns on the downhills or it would have been washout city. On the final mile or so, the single track dumped out onto the road and I thought that was the end so I just went as hard and fast as I could to pass a few riders while getting a good mud spray in the face. To my surprise the course entered back into the woods and onto some single track before the finishing straight, I held my position as well as the urge to vomit. Crossed the line, finished pretty good considering (7th out of 23 in the age group and 21st out of 89). Photos were compliments of Vuth who mucked about getting some pretty good race shots. I'll post his website up once his race shots are in.