And the #1 sign that I had a good mountain bike race is...

...dirt in my crack!!!

Yes, I actually ventured out for my second race of the season! Two races in a season is easily my all-time low, but after Cheryl asked me for the 87th time when my next race would be, I finally decided to do the season finale of the DINO Series up in Indy. I was just hoping it would be more fun than the mud-tastic Chickasaw Trace Classic I’d done in early spring. (I’m sure Chickasaw would’ve been ridiculously fun in dry conditions.) Town Run Trail Park is a super fun, super fast course. I can ride everything there, so it can’t be hard. The challenge there is going fast on the twisting, turning trails.

The trails were in absolute perfect condition for the first 1 1/2 laps. It started pouring rain about halfway through the second lap, though, and the rest of the race was pretty slick. There was plenty of standing water, riding the berms was no longer an option, and my sunglasses were fogging and collecting mud. I just had to slow down and slug it out. I had two wrecks on the third and final lap, and both of them were pretty funny and not very painful, so it was alright. I was just happy to finish without any major damage to self or bike, unlike my husband who played pinball with a couple trees. He has some bark rash on his face, a sore shoulder, and a chain ring gouge (and resulting skin flap) on his lower leg…but I think he’s going to be okay. His fork and handlebars won’t be, though!

It was fun trying to clean up at the car. There was mud everywhere—caked inside my socks, inside my ears, in my eyes (a bit inconvenient during the race), and everywhere! My buddy and teammate Charlie made a comment that he thought he probably even had mud in his butt crack, and I said I probably did, too. Upon arriving home and preparing for my shower, I confirmed that I did indeed have dirt in my crack! What a fun and crazy day.