Ask and ye shall receive.  I had been praying for rain and mud all weekend, and my prayers were answered Saturday morning.  I think Kevin and Bradley can attest to how fired up I was before the race.

When we arrived, I was excited to cheer on Emily and Jane who were finishing up their races.  2 quick warm up laps revealed two things- getting up front early would be key.... and I was going to need my mud tires.

My only goal was to get the hole shot, lead the first lap and then figure things out from there.  While I wasn't able to get a front row start, I managed to find a hole in the first few meters and hit the first turn in 5th or so. Several riders in front of me botched the first technical section and forced a bobble for just about everyone up front.  I hit the sketchy bridge feeling strong and proceeded to plow through the first uber-muddy stretch and pass a few people.  It reminded me of the USGP finals last year, except that Ryan Trebon or Tim Johson wasn't going to lap me.  Popping out of the woods and onto sketchy bridge #2, Bradley and crew let me know I was already in 2nd place.  Unfortunately for me though, eventual winner Josh Sneed already had a 30 second gap by the end of the first lap!

After the first lap or two things settled down into a good rhythm for me.  I yo-yo-ed for a while between 2nd and 4th, before finally being overtaken for good with 3 laps to go.  It wasn't that my legs couldn't go any faster, but my bike was relegated to no more than 2 gears for the whole race.  Yes, I could blame the mud, but in reality it is totally my fault since I haven't changed the cables (or chain) on the bike since 2001!  Regardless, I felt like I had a pretty good race.  I was geared well for the mud, and was forced to just spin easy and recover on the few speed sections.

Is was a huge relief to feel almost on my game again, especially after tanking the first SuperPrestige race in San Francisco two weeks ago.  I really concentrated on being in the moment, staying loose, and having fun.  For the last few laps I had images of the movie "Dodge Ball" going through my head.  This movie was an essential part of my training, according to my new guru trainer Chris Lods.

All in all I had a great time, 4th on the day in the A race isn't badand this has gotten me fired up for some more two-wheeled duels this fall.  Thanks to everyone who was there cheering and ringing the cow bells- Emily, Emily's Mom, Andy B., Jane, Kevin, Bradley, and Chris.  Y'alls rock!  And a special shout-out to Brian Bauer who I convinced to enter the A race at the last moment, despite not doing a cross race in 19 years.

Rock it People!