Month of Mud - Moraine

Moraine - 11th Masters - 7th overall for series - 2:00

Almost forgot to write this up. Got to Moraine, and it was a beautiful fall day. I knew that I would finish in 7th place in the series as long as I finished. That took a lot of the pressure off. I decided I would ride a strong ride, but try to enjoy the day and the trails.

The experts started, and about five minutes later the rest of started. Almost instantly, the guy in front of me goes down hard. I saw his helmeted head bounce off the gravel road. I barely got the brakes on in time, and I just missed him.

The route this year was different. We quickly headed uphill, turned left in to some rocky uphill switchbacks. This section was packed with riders, things hadn't spread out enough. This section was built for me. Short sections that needed power, then stretches where I could catch my breath.

We got to the top of the hill and things started spreading out as we headed downhill. I caught the guy in front of me, but he was going slow. Finally, I found a place to pass him, and I could hear three guys behind me follow. I then stayed off the brakes and in no time at all we caught the pack again. Whew, time to catch my breath.

Had to do two laps, and like always when I was done with the first lap I couldn't imagine doing a second lap. But like always, I got in a groove and it wasn't too bad. And like always, I ended up not seeing a lot of people, I thought I must be dead last when I finished. Found out that I did okay actually, especially since I didn't push quite as hard as I could have.

Saw a lot of mechanicals, and saw a number of people totally cramping. Moraine's 12 miles feels like 22 miles by the time you're done. The rocks are awesome, very rideable, but you have to be on your game.

The series was a lot of fun this year. Got to see a lot of friends, the weather was awesome. A big thank you to the Month of Mud gang, great job.