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By David Alden-St.Pierre
So, I arrived at the MTB time trial in Grafton,
to find Jeff Hattem stuck in the mud. I finally got to use
the tow chains I carry around in my car, but little did I
know that that would only be the beginning of the mud trouble.
The course was short--only 2.5 miles with a mix of trails
in the woods and grassy fields, and we did two laps. As you
know, we've had some rain lately, and to say that the course
was a little wet would be a major understatement...it was
slop. The trail sections had water that was hub deep, but
the worst parts were the grassy fields. The deep mud sucked
every ounce of energy out of your body, and didn't offer any
forward movement in exchange. It was a grind on the flat sections
and the hills were just plain evil. Even running up them was
difficult. All of this would look absurd to an observer because
the hills were not that steep, and the deep grass hid the
thick mud. Anyone watching would just see some nut ball grunting
on a bike, and getting nowhere.
I'll say that it was fun because it was a welcome break from
studying, but two laps was definitely enough on this course.
Five miles felt like an eternity. Isn't that sad.
The event was part of a fund raiser for polycystic
kidney disease, and it included kid's events and road rides.
All in all I think it was a successful event, and hopefully
if they do it again, the weather Gods will be kinder.
I think I came in 2nd, with a combined time, sadly, of 46:12
(22:04/24:08). The winner, some dude from Team BUMS put a
hurting on all of us with a combined time in the high 30:00's.
Oh well... now, back to the books (the final day!)
http://www.scrawaterskiclub.org/bike_event.asp
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