Looking back at least 50km of the 83 was bog. Imagine hike a biking through knee deep sloop only to get on your bike and ride 100m to the next section - for hours. It is definately one of the worst race days that I have ever experienced.
At about the quarter point I said screw this and dropped out of race mode - I was angry so decided that competition didn't matter, instead I would drop it down and try to enjoy it. As the day progressed I had completely lost all mojo and was just going through the paces - pissed off the whole time. I kind of hoped that Stew and Dan would catch me so at least I would have some company.
Thoughts of abandoning a day early and try to orchestrate a way to join my wife and riding buddies in Kingdom Trails ran through my head.
Sometimes you'd charge at a bog, maybe making it through or possibly ejecting over the bars. Typically you have to drag you bike beside you as you trudge along the edge.
Given the mud you'd think that they would have trimmed some of the branches - nope. In fact I have seen no signs of trail work whatsoever.
We were also told that the race would end with 20 km of railroad bed.
I yearned for it! It started with 5-10 km of gravel road and the the railway. Unfortunately it was all loose gravel and sand. I did the whole 19km solo and opted to empty the tank - counting down the kms and increasing the pace progressively until a hammer finish.
Everything about this race organization (with the exception of a few details) has been very good, but thus far the course has been absolute shit!
At this point my suggestion for next year would be for the course designer to make the sandwiches and recruit ANYBODY to route a proper trail. So it was a wet season - was this a sudden thing???
I totally applaud Chico for hosting the event but with so many other options the route has got to be better than this.
My cabinmates are nice, the food is good, there's free beer, very helpful volunteers, decent facilities...
Unless it is a very dry season next year there is no way I would consider coming back.
So, the race ended I cleaned up in the cold river (enjoyed it) and tried to get rid of the mud that was packed into every oriface. It took a very long time to clean the bike and I even had to replace all brakes pads which were worn down right to the metal. Apparently the shops are now out of pads and riders' future is uncertain for tomorrow.
Shifting isn't right but I'm used to not having all gears now.
Just saw Stew and Dan - apparently Stew snapped 5 chains and Dan 1! Stew also had me in his sights but they got held back with that. Probably a good thing as I was in no mood to tinker on someone else's bike.
So, now settled back at the camp, things are great. Also time for dinner and all grab a couple of beer.
Thanks for reading, sorry about the bitching (remember it's only the course that's bad), and I hope to write a cheerier story tomorrow.
Uncle Mike
_____________________
sent by Blackberry
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