Monroe Mud Between the Toes (SCX finals)

Mud between the toes feels good for a change! Nowhere near the epic mud-a-thon of last year, but just enough to make things a lot more interesting than last week at Steilacoom.

I was so excited by the mud that I decided to race my new disc brake equipped 'cross bike (Specalized Carbon Crux). The confidence it gave me on the descent and through the corners was worth the slight weight penalty. Mud was definitely not going to slow me down!

With double points on the line for the final race of the series, placing was going to be doubly important for the overall standings. My goal was to hang on to my 3rd overall and not have a repeat of the last couple of weeks.

To cut a long muddy slog short, I quickly settled into 3rd place and kind of just got stuck there until the end of the race. No moving up, no moving back. So, not 2nd (yay!) then again not 1st (humph!), but 3rd. Hmm, you'd think I might be a bit disappointed, but no, I was far from it. Although fairly and squarely beaten by a couple of very fast ladies, I achieved my mission AND kept my 3rd overall in the series.

Thanks Jodi - my photographer has been slacking!

And to top that off, a very fine day was had by the team, with these impressive overalls in the series-

Kristy Kelsey - 2nd elite women
Sean Kelsey - 1st 45+ elite men
Jason Jablonski 1st 35+ elite men

A very happy day on the bike!

Christening the New Bike in Mud - where is my mechanic anyway?