Mud, mud, glorious mud....

Husky.
I do like this race.
Last night it was raining. I was getting more and more nervous. I rode it last year, had mechanicals, cramped, bad day out, but still enjoyed it. I do remember that it was a really dry day / week preceeding, and yet it was muddy and wet.
This year, it was tipping it down the night before. To say I was apprehensive about the weather was an understatement.

Race day dawned, and it was not raining. I and Jenny set up our turbo trainers in the car park and did a good warm up anticipating a fast start.
As it turned out, the first 400m of the start was so slow that I went to the front and smacked it for a bit. I wanted it fast to drop as many people as possible before it got tight and bottlenecked. So, I drove it a bit, and pushed on. Soon enough, I looked round and there were about 7 of us. Myself, Mat Fleming, Dylan Cooper, Troy Glennan, Mitch Codner, and James Downing. Matt took off (as is his style) and we all looked at each other.
"I'm not gonna chase - are you?"
In the end, Dly hit the single track, and literally disappeared. He flew. Crazy skills to drop the rest of the elite field in the blink of an eye.

30km in, and the King of the Mountain hit. We didnt contest it really as Matt and Dlyan were already through, but I did notice that Mitch and I had left everyone else behind.
And then there were 2.

We rode together, swapping turns, occasionally chatting or swapping jokes, until about 70km when we were joined by a resurgent Troy Glennan. Damn it!
We realised we wouldnt catch Matt and Dly, so it was between us to sort out 3rd, 4th and 5th place.
The last 10km became very cagey, each of riding on the front, but not pushing hard. We hit the last 2km on the golf course, and I was on the front, riding 'tempo'. Who would make the first move?
Another km went by, and nothing. We hit the gravel road with 1km to go, and big Troy opened up both cannons and flew. I jumped and cramped, and Mitch got on his wheel. I was in fifth. I shut my eyes and just hurt. I found the strength to sit and drive my way back to the flying pair. As soon as I caught them, I knew I had to go again, so immediately attacked them. I hit the front and shut out the pain.
I hopped the curb with 100m to go, and I was in third. I was there with 50m to go, in fact with 5m to go.
I had 3rd.
But no. Mitch found the strength at exactly the right time, and did me by a tyre width. We were awarded the same time overall, but he had got me.
Well done to Mitch, a classy ride. I took 4th and Troy came in 5th.

Great racing, good friends too.
It was a good day out at Husky. My better half Jenny took out the womens race, and finished right up there overall.
The course was muddy, but not that bad really. It was just a case of getting on with the job in hand. It was the same for everyone.

Without wanting to be a sponsor name dropper - my Specialized 29er was the bike for the day. Hardtail, 8.8kg, and it felt perfect. Thanks to Jet cycles for looking after me.
See y'all at Bottlebutt - oh and watch the footage on cycling central next week - you'll see my mad start!