Muddy Buddy

The start of my Muddy Buddy experience started Saturday, the night before the race. My Buddy designed t-shirts and came over to print them on my printer. She went home to iron them on, then texted me when she realized that we hadn't transposed the image. Our team name was "No Teacher Left Behind", and we were a bit disappointed we didn't have shirts with the clever slogan. We left at 4:20 AM to arrive at the race site to pick up our packets by 7. We arrived with plenty of time and Michelle pulled out her sharpies and the blank t-shirts. We ended up with a fabulous design! Several people commented on our shirts on the course!

The bike we rented was decent, I guess, but the seat needed to be adjusted. I started to grab my bike tool and realized...I didn't have my own bike. With my bike bag. With my tool in it. Rats.

There were several people near us in the parking lot who looked veteran. I asked all of them for a tool but no one had one. M and I resigned to being uncomfortable on the bike legs of the race. The course was divided into five segments, approximately one mile each. One buddy started on the bike, one running.

At each transition area there was an obstacle to cross:
1. Up-and-over wall with climbing holds on one side, cargo net on the other.
2. belly crawl under cargo net
3. balance beams
4. cargo net 15+feet with nearly vertical slide on other side


I started the race on the bike while Michelle began running. It was my first actual ride on a mountain bike (other than trying it out in the parking lot). I felt like I had a flat tire but quickly realized I had a trampoline built into the front tire...SHOCKS! I figured out the gears within the first 10 minutes and settled into a reasonable pace. Bikers were to stay to the left, which made passing slower riders interesting. Normally passing on the left, this set-up posed a challenge; ask to pass on the left of bikers or pass on the right between the runners and bikers. I haven't ridden a bike without clipless pedals (the ones you clip into for a push AND pull motion) in at least 5 years, so my feet slipped off every time I tried (unsuccessfully) to pull up on the pedal. We spend so much time on a road bike NOT mashing the pedals, and that's all I could do on the platform pedals. This issue was a mild annoyance but the ride was so beautiful and relaxing that it didn't affect my enjoyment of the race.

I took a cue from my days of rock climbing ("trust the shoes") and adopted the mantra "trust the wheels'. My trust that thick mountain bike tires had enough traction and my body weight on the back tire allowed me to stay on the bike when most others got off to walk through the thick mud. One section of the course offered a 'closed' bridge (they only closed it for the race) where we had to walk through waist-high water, so I had to dismount the bike and wait in line.

At the end of the race the buddies must meet up and slosh on bellies through a 30 foot long mud pit. The entire course is a bit muddy and slippery, but most participants are relatively clean until this point. There is a cargo net to go under, and the mud is so wet that it enters every crevice in your body. Photographers are at the ready, of course, and I'll post pictures when they are sent to me. Michelle had a waterproof camera that got a bit fuzzy. The shots at the top are from that camera.

After the race we went to the 'official bar' sponsor and talked to several people who also 'raced'. The atmosphere was so supportive and fun, I'm sure to sign up for the race next year.