When I signed up for the Muddy Buddy months in advance, I didn't know anything about it except from friends who talked about how fun it was. A few weeks before, I started to wonder, what have I gotten myself into? Obstacles at each transition? what do they mean by obstacles?! I don't DO obstacles! I did finally understand the leap frog process, that one starts on a bike while the other starts out running (have the strongest runner start out with the run), and then trades to the other sport at the transition points. The one thing that was a blow to the ego was the cumulative age of my buddy and I! We were in the 80's, she and I!
We debated on whose nice mountain bike to use, and what height to put the seat at as there was a height discrepancy between us. Neither of us wanted to get our nice bikes muddy and trashed, so we decided to use her old mountain bike. Wow, I am sure glad we did!
The day before the race it rained, and rained, and rained, quite possibly more than the entire summer combined. I wondered if they might cancel it, due to the potential damage to the reservoir?
The morning of the race we met up super early and rode together to Boulder Reservoir, expecting loads of traffic and a backup. Things went great though, parking and finding the area was not a problem at all. So we hung out and decorated our bike so we could find it at the transition points, since we were unlikely to see each other. The costumes people were in were great! Entertaining! It was a very cold morning and some people were racing in virtually nothing at all!
Our heat was one of the last ones (due to our cumulative age! shouldn't they let the "old" people go first?) and we took off, me on a run and Jane on the bike. This year was unbelievably muddy. Tried very hard running through the mud, slipping and sliding, my shoes getting heavier and heavier. Then, I found the bike and took off....through mud. And the mud gathered on the tires and wheels, I had to dismount and use my hand to try to get the mud slop to get the wheels to turn, and ended up walking the bike through much of the mud. Everyone was. At one point we had to cross the river which was hip high, I was happy to not be on the bike at that time! And the obstacles? They were easy, such as climbing a wall and jumping off of it, scrambling up an inflatable slide and sliding down to the bottom.
At the end we needed to go through the mud pit together. I got there first as a runner thinking Jane was ahead of me somehow. Unfortunately the bike had a flat tire when she picked it up at the transition point and she ended up having to walk her bike portion. But she made it and going through the mud pit was great fun!
All in all I would do it again, it is just a fun thing to do with a good buddy or significant other, and the crowd and organization is lively!
- Michelle M.
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