Just add Water

Some days are just meant to be good. It's like you can grab a packet from your box of good days, add water, stir, and wala, you've got yourself a good day. Sunday started off great, with a super scrambled egg, cheese, and bagel sandwich. An extremely tasty breakfast. Then when Taylor arrived we found that the third bike rack would fit on his car no problem, as if there were doubts. So no worries, we could get all the bikes on top and all fit in the car without being crammed. At the last minute Jake was joining us for the ride, but we were able to pick him up and get on the road without really falling behind schedule, a big plus. I'd also been able to warn others to bring any rain gear they might have before they'd left their houses after see the radar while eating breakfast. Another plus, I don't think anyone had planned for rain. The rain looked like it should pass through the Putney, VT area before we would race though.

We arrived at the race venue in good time, but it hadn't rained as I thought it would. Yet. Shortly after registering, it began to drip, then poor. A few claps of thunder rolled in the area as well. But, about 25 minutes before our start the rain stopped and the sun came out. The only issue with a bright sun is that it heats things up and turns the recent rain water into steam. It was a bit hot and humid, now. Oh well, there was some sweet single track downhills to rip.

Using the lock out on my rear suspension I was able to get some excellent acceleration off the start. I connected with the pedals immediately and got some good pedal strokes in, taking the whole shot. A good place to be when the course turns downhill within 100 yards; a good place to be when you're not necessarily the best descender. I railed the d0wnhill pretty good though and kept things at the pace I wanted. I led for a little while, but a few guys finally slipped by. Jake, riding in the Single Speed open class (the only SS rider on the day) started with us. He'd been hot on my tail off the start. We fell into a groove together which was pretty exciting. I'm not often riding close to other people in cross country races, but riding with a friend was great. It was just like we'd decided to go out for a ride, a really fast ride. We stayed together until the start of the 3rd and final lap.

I was holding 3rd place as I started the final lap. There'd been quite a few guys from the 30-39 age group that caught me, but I hadn't seen anyone from my class in some time. Then about a third of the way through the last lap I felt some cool rain drops come down. They felt fantastic, cooling me off a lot. I began to feel even better, and got a bit excited about the cool water coming down. The rain kept coming harder and harder though, until I found myself riding through little runoff streams and completely soaked. I was still excited about it, I'd mentally prepared for rain. Then as I was clearing the longest uphill grind of the course I realized, I'd pretty much cleared all the short steep technical climbs of the course. I'd ridden them all, living up to Chris's nickname for me, spiderman. I realized those bits would be really difficult when wet, and there were likely quite a few guys still trying to work through them. That meant they would be moving even slower and therefore falling further behind. I felt pretty confident that I'd locked up 3rd place and began to really enjoy some of the downhills that I was still bombing down.

It became a little more difficult as mud and water were flying into my face. I'd put my glasses back on, but couldn't see through them so I slid them to the tip of my nose to try and block the debris from flying up into my eyes. The lack of vision didn't bother me to much though, the rain was a blast to be riding in.

I climbed the final hill and chatted with Chris as he ran along cheering me on for a short distance. 3rd Place it was. I'm feeling some condition coming into my legs and the hills went fairly well. All good things. Taylor rolled in shortly behind me in 4th. Jake, the only representative of the single speed nation finished strong and settled for a 1st place in SS open. Of course it poured the hardest as we tried to get into dry clothes at the car. That was pretty entertaining.

We stopped at the Putney co-op for some hot sandwiches and I got some chocolate milk in a great glass bottle. What could be better, milk in a glass bottle. Of course, the fun didn't end there. Some very entertaining stories rounded off the day during the car ride home.

It was a good day, but a little water changed the whole dynamic and made it a great day.

Click here for a few pictures from the day, courtesy of Chris using my camera.