While I am sure all of you would prefer a Podcast, you’re going to have to read the report on this weekend’s Cloudcroft beatdown. Unfortunately I spent Tuesday night cleaning and prepping the amazing KHS XC904 Team so I could not race it in the Fat Tire Series.

So now to the action: I drove down with my parents on Saturday morning pulling “The Rig” (yes, my parents are officially old enough to have one). For those of you not blessed enough to know what “The Rig” is, it’s a 2007 Toyota Tundra pulling an 18 foot Fun Finder camper. We got in beautiful Cloudcroft a little after noon and settled into a campsite approximately 14 inches away from a part of the course. I took the bike out for a course pre-ride, and seeing as how the course was a loop, I stopped over by the start finish line and picked up my packet and number. I tucked all the goods into my jersey and rode back to the camper just before afternoon storms hit. I was a bit nervous as to the condition of the course with the storms, but I remained optimistic, knowing the KHS would get me through regardless of weather conditions. The afternoon showers ended and the sun came up, the perfect combination for a smooth non-dusty course.

The following morning I slept in late (the race didn’t start until 10) and then we rolled on over to the start line. We got there right about 8:30 and within a minute of pulling in the rain came. It wasn’t that nice “look how pretty the rain is” kind of rain, it was more the “Honestly if this comes down any harder I am getting in the car and driving home” kind of rain. It rained steady up until race time. Because the conditions of this course get so bad in the rain, they cut the lap count from three to two.

I busted out my always comfortable Voler clothing and lined up in the front row. After an incredibly hard start I was able to settle in and almost clear the first slick uphill. I got back on the bike, and by the time I reached camp the sun was out and I pulled the rain jacket off and threw it. A short section of dirt road allowed me to recover for the long scary descent that was to come. The descent itself is not all that techy, but the shear speed that it is ridden makes it a bit gnarly. About a half mile from the end of the descent I passed Damian, who had flatted on a berm jump. For the first time in my life I was in front of the guy and sitting in third place overall. I pulled my head together for the scary banked corners at the bottom and tried to keep it as smooth as possible. As I approached the last corner my confidence was up and I didn’t hit the brakes. I rolled into the corner at about 32 miles an hour (keep in mind the course is glazed over with mud) and heard the distinct sound of my tire burping air, followed immediately by the popping of tire bead off rim bead, and then followed by a sliding of my forebrain across a muddy ground. I pulled myself up and tried to ignore the cameraman who had so conveniently just got a picture of me piling it into the ground and pulled my spare tube and Seal-N-Flate off my seat post. Much to my dismay the rim was packed with a thick layer of mud that I had to remove before I could get the tire back on. I put the tube in, politely told the cameraman to please not take anymore pictures and tried to inflate. The mud had plugged the canister and I only got about 6 PSI out of it, so that’s when I started freaking out. I had just saw the last man in my class pass me, and Damian was coming around the corner. Using my crazy cross skills I picked the bike up and ran it to the bottom to get some more air. After about 5 minutes of trying to get a Schrader valve pump to put air into a presta valve, I gave up and ran up the trail a bit to find the adapter from my air canister. I used el hand pumpo pequeno to inflate the tire up to riding pressure and got back on the bike and started the climb. I went probably harder than I should have up the hill, but as my good buddy Skinnyfast always says “you can’t win if you are afraid to lose”, well, that and the fact that I was already losing. By the top of the climb I had moved up to third in my class. I hammered the single-track, and despite the thick mud the bike still rode as smooth as butter. I caught my last guy as we rolled through the start- finish line to start the final lap. I had made up about 7 minutes in lost time and now all I had to do was keep it.

Since this is way too long, I will spare you all the heartache and just say that I came out with the Big W.

As always I would like to thank the sponsors that made this all possible: KHS bicycles (which are just incredible bikes), Rudy project (for keeping the mud out of my eyes and the rock out of my head), Clif nutrition (for keeping the motor running), and The Bike Coop (for hooking me up with Chamois butter for protecting my tender backside).