I Like Mud

Mud is good, it makes racing fun. Enumclaw (SCX#5) was fun! Not quite the mud swamp of last year, but enough to make things interesting. The slick, peanut buttery twisty corners claimed a fair number of victims and favored those who could maintain speed and stay upright.

I like this course so much in fact that I can forgive it for the 'wall of doom'. This is a run-up that seems to go vertically straight up and for me becomes a 'stagger-up' by the 6th lap. It's truly not a pretty site to behold and the beer garder hecklers at the top have plenty of time to comment on your progress! They show no pity and don't offer ropes to tow you up. Maybe we need a climbing sponsor rather than a beer sponsor next year??

Kristy just ahead of me on the 'Wall of Doom'

The 'wall of doom' was really where the 1st split in the pack came in the race. I got through around 6th place, but soon pulled into 5th place after narrowly missing a gal who crashed on the descent (she was ok). The leaders were pulling away though and as hard as I tried I could never match their speed. I knew if I had a 'clean' race (technically, not literally!) and kept focused I'd keep my 5th place though. It was hard not to be demoralized each lap by the 'wall of doom' but my endorphines kicked in on the descent and I used the guys as carrots to keep me going as I worked my way through them.

I was pleased with my solid race for 5th place, and even happier for team mate Kristy who held her 4th place ahead of me and even made some ground on 3rd place.