Slippery Race at Putney

And so it has continued to be wet, and it even rained as Taylor and I entered the state of Vermont. Not particularly exciting when I'm planning to race, though, I guess I didn't care a whole lot. I just prefer dry trails, especially technical ones. Wet roots and I have never had the best of relationships, cordial to one another, but never out of our way to be friendly.

It had rained quite a bit at Putney recently so the trails were damp, greasy, and extremely ready to suck the life from each rider's legs. The race started out okay, but soon enough the entire field just walked away from me. It took me nearly all of the 4 laps to begin to find a rhythm I'd had through roots and mud that I'd had before pile driving my shoulder into the ground. Until I began to show some ability, I pretty much looked like a kid that just got off his training wheels. At least that's how I felt I looked. I looked forward to the climbs, at least a little. After all, it is where I usually shine.

Not so on this day. I was doing pretty good compared to other people I saw, even getting pretty far, farther than most, over some really slippery technical uphill stuff. But, the greasy mud was too much for even the best of us. I saw no one riding, on two particular spots of the course. The less technical climbs proved to be suffer-fests. Many riders were reduced to slow, grinding climbs as their rear wheels struggled to hold traction.

Through it all, I felt that I rode fairly well, I was even beginning to catch some guys towards the end of the race. I have the endurance, just no high end speed yet. So I felt good about my ride, even if I was really close to the back of the 19-29 Cat 1 field.