can i blame my tires? DFL #2.

(photo from Amy) Yeah, tires.... well, not really. The trail got all technical and I sorta gave up, really.

Amy and I left the blue sky in Chicago and just as we pulled into Greenbush, it started to pour. Soon riders were coming back from their laps muddy and telling tales- saying the trail was greasy, saying it was unsafe, warning of the off-camber. The 12 hour riders were taking a break, waiting for it to dry out a little. The race organizer even asked the 3 hr crowd whether we wanted to postpone. (Postpone invariably means cancel, so of course we said no!)

The race started and I didn't even try. I let everyone past. I really like riding my own pace and especially with everything wet and slippery, i had no interest in that little first-lap sprint. Jason from Killjoy went down twice right away. I sort of just stood there and thought, well, even if i walk a lap, that counts. So I pressed on.

It was slick, and with my crossmark tires, I just kept sliding around. I couldn't stand and climb or my tires would just spin, and the greasy downhills were like riding on ice. I walked a good part of the first section. It would have been fast and awesome, but it was technical and slow. I fell in poison ivy alot. Then it dried up, got fun, and was fine through the end.

I stopped after one lap, not wanting to do that first section again. Screw the mud. The funny part is, both Killjoy Jason and Hemme forgot to go by the timing tent before they dropped out after 1 lap, so my lap time was faster than theirs. Not that it matters... Amy wanted the series points so she went out for a 2nd, which she later reported was not fun.

and so, DFL #2, aka 6th.