Escape from muddy Granouge
I should have known better as soon as I drove down the road that led to the race. My first sight was an endurance rider already on the trail riding and average of 4mph. He was covered in mud and it was raining hard. Not a good start to the day. My buddies Melissa and Laszlo started to set up camp as my compadre Mike already found himself stuck in the mud. But hey we’re mountain bikers, we’re tough, whats a little mud right? As time passed the sport class was already on the course and the racers were abandoning the race left and right warning us not to even bother. Ah what do they know? After an other hour we were at the start, and of course it begins to rain harder. I have a great sprint and enter the trail 3rd quickly passing the other 2. Then came the first down hill, having to abandon my Tifosi’s I feel the blinding mud kicking up in my eyes. I thought to myself this is gonna be a long one. As the race continued we were forced to carry our bikes up all hills. People were crashing on the straights. Braking and turning were non existent. I had to use my feet as rigors to stay upright and turn. I was feeling pretty good though, I crossed the first lap in second place. The second lap though everything went to hell. My gears when the worked were stuck in 2:2, constantly slipping, and the chain would just pop off periodically. As time passed the trail got progressivly worse and the mud stuck to the bikes like glue. People were actually throwing their bikes in a pond in the course just to clean them off. When this seems logical in a race, something must be wrong. With the mud on the bikes , the bikes weighed 50 lbs. Hauling that on your shoulder while running up a muddy hill was quite a sight. But there was no quit in me, this is what Evomo riders live for right? So I pressed on finally collapsing over the finish line in 5th place. I was cold, muddy, and exhausted, but suprisingly with a smile on my face, wondering why the hell do I do this, and even pay to do it. All I could think was “Bring the Rukus”
