you asked for it...or wait, maybe you didn't.

so, about this sunday's mud-fest...
i.e.) wors #2 - alpine valley

i re-spoked half of the drive side of my wheel with the help of steve's truing stand sat night. now i have a every-other-spoke-black-then-silver-colored-spoke-motifee going on on the rear drive side. it's awesome. then steve and i decided it was a good idea to hop on the bikes to go play some cards and drink some brews with robin and friends. so, beer in our bags, butts on our bikes, we headed out into the big dark night. i returned home in time to sleep just after 1.30. and was up at 7...there was mistake number one...but i had cleverly packed sat night, so i just threw everything in the car and took off. got there at just a couple of minutes after 11 for the 11.30 start...hurried changing...hurried registration packet pick up...hurried number pinning....hurried rush to the start line...hurried filling of the camelbak as the nat anthem played...NARGH!..i forgot my gloves....oh well we'll see how these grips treat me gloveless...

anyway, i got there in time and managed to be all set for the start. it rained the night before...the ground was ugly, sticky, clumpy, clayey, blacky mud. and with a course which i would guess at about 85% climbing up the hill...with the only dry ground being the downhill and the bottom of the hill...both of which were part of the..."you've just climbed for the majority of the lap, now here's a very brief respite to get you back down so you can do the whole dern thing again" section...i had me a fun time. plus...since i arrived nice and early with lots of time to set my bike up properly...i ran tires inflated to 60psi....which really...really didn't help things.

i don't want to sound like i'm complaining. really, i had a blast. 13 out of 22 is a finish i am very happy with. plus as it was my first time dealing with mud of this sort. i got to experience the "hey, i'm pedaling, and the wheel is spinning, but i'm not gaining ground nearly as fast as i should be for as much as the dern thing is turning" feeling as i ground up some of the climbs...i cleaned one hill that most were walking and had all sorts of support from guys telling me just to keep spinning...it made me kinda happy....that being said i did lots of pushing too. so did everyone...except probably the quick ones in the front. several times i saw people in front of me just stop and tip over. and couldn't help but think...clip out dude...it's not really that bad. but i
guess it was. i'm calling it a victory. lots of errors, but no crashes off the bike. no chains dropped. (big, big thanks to yerke, for fixing the bike saturday...shifted like a dream... and to top things off, of course we had to have 3 bog crossings. not creeks. no moving water. but definitely not rideable 4+ inch deep sections of muddy puddles and rocks. so again the shoes are cached. and by the end the bike probably weighed nearly twice normal a la mud attached to everything. luckily the drivetrain stayed clean...passed people cursing and pulling clumps out of theirs...was jealous of the singlers who didn't have these worries. i was mindful of my own. bottom line is wors races are all sorts of fun. lots of people. nice cooperative guys. encouragement all over the place from each other, which i thought was pretty cool. and a huge turn out. i'd like to do some more. we'll see. it is aweful far to go...and an aweful steep entry fee for no shwag...an no chance for payout for me.

as far as the drive was concerned..drive up fine...although...i rolled into the race on less than E as i couldn't stop or i would have missed it...but made it. post race i got gas, and headed home...the long way...i'm not so swift and ended up 1 full hour out of my way in madison. and took the twitish route to get back from there. no one to blame but me...had i woke up earlier i could have stopped at a rest area for a free map instead of the one i bought in madison thus realizing my
error long before ending up actually in that cursed city...and i could have gotten gas...and i could have run decent tire pressure...and i could have sported gloves. although...the grips are great...comfortable the whole time, and no blisters. was shocked.

so...would i do it again...in a heartbeat. i'd just get up a bit earlier next time.