Mudslinger XC Race Report - 2012

Clean fo a little while before the start.

Raining before the start, everything getting wet.

I’ve wanted to do the Mudslinger for a while now as it seemed like a fun early season race to learn about more trails here in Oregon.  This race proved that I am not in a condition to ride as a CAT 2 racer! Or that my body was not prepared for the 3800 feet (1158m) of climbing. A couple Cat 3 and Cat 4 climbs highlighted my failure to train enough.  

I signed up for the race on a whim as Shiggy from On-One was taking the company van down to race.  He asked if I wanted to come along, and of course I said yes.

“Why not? How hard could it be?” I thought.

Wow.

Mud, climbing, cold, and rain were the order of the day.  We started out on a climb that I ended up blowing up on.  I went out too hard to race with the boys and popped near the top.  I ended up spending the rest of the race in a depleted recovery mode.  Each climb took more and more out of me, BUT every downhill technical singletrack gave me an adrenaline boost to push me forward to the finish. 

The trail called Panama Canal was a river and SOOO much fun that I wanted to do it a couple times.  It was so sloppy and wet that I was just holding on to the bike and letting it guide the way through.  Here is where riding the Titus Carbon FTM really out shined all the other bikes that I could have ridden that day. 

Having a trail bike while going down the technical sections gave me the confidence to ride past people while they walked.  I opened up both the shock and fork and let her rip.  It was a blast. 

I think if I would have just done the race as a CAT 3 (beginner) and only did the short course I could have done better as the second lap really just beat the snot out of me and my legs. But then I would not have done Panama Canal for a second time.  It was worth it to gauge my body for how much training I will need to do for the High Cascade 100 in 3-ish months.  Luckily (or hopefully) it will be dry in Bend. So now it is just about getting fit.

Here is what 3 hours in mud and rain will do to a bike:

Thank the maker that Shiggy gave me some fenders. I believe it was the main reason I was able to finish as the last lap the mud turned thick and evil.  I am really surprized the Shimano XT drivetrain did not lock up and give me fits. Kudos to Shimano for designing such awesome gear. The braking from Magura was stellar and gave me confidence to perform retarded feats like passing on the right of riders while sloshing through uncharted trail. I almost gave a spectacular display on “how to crash”, but the Maguras combined with the RockShox suspension and the FTM’s ability for absorbtion of rider skillz retardation fixed my folly and i was able to ride through it.

I finished 29th out of 32 in the CAT2 35-44 age group which goes to show you how much more I should have trained for this event, and how wrong I was on guessing how hard it could be.  For a 20 mile race it was the hardest one i have ever done.  Even harder than events in Winter Park, Colorado.  Rain and mud push events up a notch on the difficulty scale and that is something I will remember from now on.

I’d like to thank Titus for letting me ride a sweet bike, and Peak Sports for putting on a fantastic event despite the weather.

Have fun,

Jeremy

Strava info:

http://app.strava.com/rides/6075299

OBRA race results:

http://obra.org/events/20372/results