Downeast Cyclocross (aka Mudfest 2011)
Day 1
After a week of solid rain, the farm was one giant mud pit by Saturday morning. Chris and Rich were first out for the day. Unfortunately, Chris rolled a tire but he was lucky and able to quickly fix it and keep going. This cost him some time, but he still managed a 27th place finish for the day. Rich struggled with the conditions, losing time by riding sections he should have just got off and ran. He looked strong throughout the race and finished in 19th . Tracy was having a great race, up about 6 mins on her crossresults.com nemesis, before having her chain slide off the wrong side and get stuck. She was right at the pit zone, but with no pit bike, she was forced to run her bike in the rest of the lap. She completed the race without getting lapped, managing to finish on the lead lap even with her mechanical. Luckily fellow team members were able to get her bike back in working order for the next day, as she was hungry to get back out and race.
Day 2
The conditions continued to take their toll on racers. In the mens cat 4 race, one unlucky racer didn't even make it past the start/finish line. He broke a derailer hanger and was out of the race before getting off the pavement. Rich got lucky and found all the right lines on his first lap, but not everyone was so lucky and he had to fight to stay upright as others nearly took him (or the course markers) out. He battled back and forth with one racer for the entire 4 laps, gaining on the turns and the climb, but losing ground elsewhere. On the final lap he was ready to pounce and pull the other racer in for good, but one slip of the tire on the hill section gave his competitor room to create a gap, leaving not enough time for Rich to get him through the twisty finish section. Overall though a real breakout race for Rich with a 6th place finish.
Chris (Crash) Adams was excited for another fun day in the mud, his favorite way to race. His bad luck continued, however as he took a pretty rough fall on the course's descent. He battled back in the remaining laps, still looking strong at the end. He was happy to come away relatively unscathed and with a bike in one piece, while finishing 22nd.
John made it up to Maine for day 2, sitting on fresh legs from not racing the day before. It was a weird race for him as it seemed to be a balance of powering through mud while still trying to finesse the slippery off camber turns. He slipped out on an off camber section twice; once crashing in slow motion, the other time managing to catch himself. He was pretty drained at the end from all the running and riding through deep mud, but he had a lot of fun except for getting blitzed at the line by someone he thought he had dropped. He’s learned his lesson and realizes he now needs to pay more attention to that in future races. He placed 33rd overall in cat 4 and had a top 20 finish for 35+ men.
Tracy came back with a vengeance on day 2, determined to complete the race on her bike this time. She got caught behind a crash in the opening stretch, causing her to have to clip out and go around. This cost her some time on the start and she was in the back end of the field into the hole shot. She quickly recovered and moved up through the field. She once again gained ground and was able to put time in on her top opponents. With a problem free final lap, Tracy flew past the finish line in 28th place.
When asked how the weekend went for her, Tracy (aka T-rock) said, "What can I say but MUDDY FUN!? Well actually, I was a bit nervous for my team mates and myself when I saw derailleurs breaking like twigs. Luckily we all remained unscathed. My goal for the race was not to break anything. Day 1, I was feeling good making good time then the chain jammed, and I could not fix it. Luckily, I was only about a 1/2 lap from the finish, so I picked up the bike and ran as fast as I could to the finish. Okay, I mostly walked since the bike was tremendously heavy with all the mud on it. I finished and didn't get lapped, so I was happy. Day 2, still feeling good, and having no mechanical I was happy with my finish. Both days, trying to lift the now 30 lb. bike covered in mud over the barriers was less than smooth."
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