Slip n' slide

Well, mission half accomplished.

As we warmed up yesterday for TREAD Fest at Grand Geneva (WORS No. 2), and I saw the caliber of competition, I set two goals for myself: don't get lapped, and don't get girled. Up against the likes of Schouten, Matter, Ettmayer, Peariso, and of course the Lalondes, it was going to be tough to stay on the lead lap ... and no, I'm not being chauvanistic about staying ahead of the women's field, it just served as motivation ...

The callup for staging saw me in line at the porta potties, so the day was starting rough right off the bat. Start wasn't great, not climbing all that well, and then halfway through the first lap I had to stop to fix my shifter, which had come loose. I was pretty much dead last, and by that point Abby Strigel, the lead woman, had caught and passed me. So I had my work cut out for me ... and then it started to rain.

Abby had a mechanical, so I passed her as the conditions deteriorated. The course was ridable on the second lap, but by the third we were slipping and sliding our way through tight singletrack, trying to find traction anywhere we could. Like most people, I had taken the spikes out of my shoes when it appeared we'd have a dry race, so I was scrambling to get up the steep slopes and over and around the crazy corners. D'oh!

I lost count how many times I slid out, wrapping myself around trees, sliding backwards down slopes, and riding my legs outrigger style in a vain effort to stay upright. The best was the high-speed rollercoaster mid-course, which I took WAY too hot, and slid ... first sideways, then on my face with my bike beside me, in this awesome slip-n-slide move for 75 meters or so. Crazy!

The course started to dry out, the line through the rock garden solidified, and before I knew it, I managed to pick a few guys off in the closing laps. My bike was a mess, the lockout was stuck, my chain wanted to explode, but I kept at it, plugging along and hoping I wouldn't have to run too much more. I got passed about 2/3 of the way through lap 4, I know for sure by the top 3, maybe the top 5, and at that point I couldn't imagine riding another full lap and almost pulled the plug. But it's a long season, and you never know when and where you can pick up an experience like that ...

BIG CONGRATS to new dad Joe Doyle and his wife Stacey -- the proud parents of twins, born on Friday. May 18 is a pretty cool day, huh?! (And Joe even managed to get a ride in before the big event!)

Congrats too! Shout-out to Mike Sherer of MetLife/Pony Shop, who took home the comp win in style, passing me somewhere in lap 3 ... and they started several minutes behind us!

Happy b-day: I'm a couple of days late on this, but happy birthday wishes to Lou Kuhn, owner of The Pony Shop. Hope it was a great one!