late and out dated

porc hosted another edition of the fat tire challenge this past sunday. it has been a few years since the previous one and i am glad to finally see this race come back. this time around though, the gentlemen at porc managed to get it included in an alabama race series and have it timed by about time events. they also had a preregistration system this year, which probably worked out for the best.

rewind to march or this year. i rode a time trial out at the blackwater trails and, at that time, hadn't been riding the mountain bike much. a few days after the time trial i disassembled my mountain bike and began stripping the frame for repaint.

fast forward to this past friday. i had been wishy-washy about actually going to the fat tire challenge, but finally decided to give it a go. so, with my mointain bike still in a state if disarray and without any paint or sealant or frame saver or anything i decided that it would be a fantastic idea to put it together and go race in the rain.

needless to say, my wishy-washiness evolved into poor planning which further grew into poor performance.

this brings us to today. in my garage, looking sad, is one rust colored stripped bianchi muss frame and fork, covered in sand, with no braking power. my brooks has gone from a dark and classic honey color to an off-white, dry, crusty, and dusty version of itself. my shoes are still coated in mud and nature and are still holding onto the half inch of sand that made it inside the shoes while i rode - this was a particularly nice occurance since, on race day, i left home without any socks to wear.

good times. sort of.