"So....it's still raining."

Yup. Vermont is the prime place to be if you're a bike racer these days...provided you want to get really good at riding mud. After dry, fast riding at Mohican last weekend I set about recovering. I got a few easy spins in and a real fun mountain bike ride in on Friday. The legs were feeling okay, and I decided last minute to do a 6 hr. race in NH yesterday. Bad idea. The forecast called for a 50% chance of light showers in the afternoon. Which was exactly right if by a 50% they meant 100%, by light showers they meant downpour, and by afternoon they meant all day.

So the course, which was a classic 5 mile XC loop, was super muddy. Lap 1 was fast and fun, and I was right in with the lead group. By lap 2 I knew the lines and was sitting 3rd or 4th. Pretty good and I wasn't going too hard. Actually I was pretty psyched to have recovered well enough to be cranking out 40 minute laps and feeling good in the mud. Then the temperature dropped about 5 degrees to the low 50's and the wind picked up. By the end of lap 3 (2 hrs. in) I was shivering and crashing. I needed some wool layers and solid (fatty) foods at the feed zone, and I didn't have them.

Lap 4 started with my rear derailleur throwing my chain behind the cassette, and soon after that I pulled the plug. Well, that was a fail (yes, fail is now a noun, ask any high schooler).

Fortunately for me, I wasn't the only one in the, I'm shivering, my brakes are going, and this has bad news written all over it boat, so I had some company in the slopeside bar while my housemate Nina (who picked a heck of a day to try out 6 hr. racing) raged it in the rain and mud. Nina scored second, which was awesome, and maintained some glory for the car.

The good news is that the legs felt good....now if it would only stop rainy and warm up so I could get some proper training in.....