Treeman: Are You Kidding Me?

Up until last Thursday the weather report for the Conyers Ga. area showed a 20% chance of rain. Then all of the sudden it jumped to 50%, then 60%. Surely this couldn't be happening again. The last GSC race at Winder was run in the rain, what were the odds it would happen at the very next race? Pretty good as it turned out.

Huddled under the tent while it pours. Wondering why we're doing this.

Thunder at 4 am

I could hear it pounding on the window of the hotel. I picked up my phone and checked the radar. That assured me of not getting back to sleep. The whole area looked like someone had puked red and yellow all over a map of north east Georgia. I contemplated just going home.

At practice the day before the trail had been in perfect condition. The new toy was just the right weapon, I was pumped. At dinner that night (after my one beer) I even went so far as to boldly make predictions about my results on Sunday. But I made sure I put in a caveat about it staying dry.

After breakfast at the hotel on Sunday I texted Big Jim about bailing, to which he responded "we're racing". That guy can be such a pain! So we loaded up in a down pour and headed out into a dark rainy morning. The Kid was even liking the bail out idea. It just didn't seem right racing in the rain twice in one month.

Does he look happy or what?

It Gets Worse

As Jim and Darien's wave lined up (they race at 9:30, The Kid and I race at 11:30) the bottom dropped out. It was raining so hard you couldn't hear anything under the tent.

"It's NOT a cold, only allergies!"

The promoter's starting whistle wouldn't work it was so full of water. Lighting flashed, thunder rolled, but the race went on. I'll let those two tell their own race story, Jim has a doozy to tell. I had nightmares Sunday night about what happened to him.

Danny K. broke pieces off his new Cannondale in a crash. Before their race was over it had started to slack off, but the damage was done.

Our Turn

It doesn't look wet, trust me, it was.

The field into the woods looked like a shallow lake. Within 100 yards my eyes were full of muddy water. I managed to get into the single track 3rd. They had cut the trail and the laps back (thankfully) but it was still a challenge to even stay upright in some sections. About a quarter of the way through the first lap I noticed 2nd place start looking down at his front derailleur. When we started up the first climb I just motored by. Feeling froggy I went hard up the hill and put a gap on him and the rest of the class. Then a little further on I came up on 1st place. "Oh yea" I thought, "now it's gonna get fun."

The new toy was amazing! It saved my ass more than once on those slick hills. But I was still scared when the trail pointed down. I would tip toe around corners and ride the brakes on the descents. We came through on the first lap close together with him in the lead. I went around before we got back into the woods and managed to pull a little gap, then he'd promptly be right back there again. He was in front of me on the biggest hill when he spun on a root. I moved to the right and went by, cresting the hill before he could get half way up it. "I've got this!" I thought. I checked behind me in the woods and didn't even see him. All of the sudden he's on my wheel! What the Hell? He came inside me on a muddy turn, we went up the next hill together, then he opened a gap on the way down. I guess it's possible he was right behind me when I looked back that time. They had recently harvested the timber in that section and you could easily see from one trail to the other. I noticed during practice the trail could be cut with little problem. I didn't hear anything behind me until he was right there, then I heard him. I didn't think I was going that slow.

The Finish

When we popped out into the field that led to the finish line he was a ways in front of me so he was definitely faster. I tried but could never close the gap, ending up 2nd. The Kid finished 4th again but was close to the lead group and had a good race. I managed to keep my comments positive this time.

All of our stuff was covered in mud. The new toy was no longer new looking. It never rained during our race and the second lap was even slicker than the first. I was glad to be finished but a little disappointed with my performance. I guess I should be practicing going down hill instead of up.

We race again this coming weekend. Forecast is for 20% chance both Saturday and Sunday. Think we'll get away with that?